


Five Times

by Ncj700



Series: Yuuri on Ice: Omegaverse [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Katsuki Yuuri, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Body Image, Communication, Dirty Talk, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Fluff, Long Distance Relationship, Luck is fate’s bitchy twin sister, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Miscommunication, Mpreg, Multi, Nesting, Omega Victor Nikiforov, PODIUM PACK, Phichit is king of instagram, Phone Sex, Pining, Russian Skating Family, STAHP, Smut, Telling the truth, VictUuri, Victor with a K, Viktor just wants to nest in peace, Viktor no, Viktor recovers, Yakov's skaters are at it, Yurio finally catches a break, Yurio has troubles, Yurio is fooling no-one, Yurio's teenage hormones, Yuuri confesses his secrets, Yuuri is surprisingly chill, but god CRAMPS, discussions of home work vandalism, he's worrying me, its legit now, its their thing really, no, poor boy is suffering with those, possibly, there are more omega characters in this than I realised there would be, they finally communicate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:18:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 63,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9627770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ncj700/pseuds/Ncj700
Summary: Before Yuuri ever gets to St. Petersburg, he has to get to Russia. And its not made any easier when Viktor has to leave without him.





	1. The Night Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its their last night together before Viktor flies back home to Russia.

Viktor had never really been unhappy. 

True, he'd had his own share of struggles and heartache, but he had never felt his life was really lacking. He had very few memories of his father but all of them were good, and his mother and Yakov had more than made up for his lack of presence.

After meeting Yuuri however, he had found something he hadn't realised was missing in the first place, and everything was  _ better _ .

It was a strange feeling, but one he absolutely refused to trade away, or otherwise part with. Yuuri might not have marked him yet, but Viktor didn't care. Yuuri was his mate, and he would go feral on anyone who tried to tell him otherwise.

Before Yuuri could move to St. Petersburg however, there was one problem they still had to deal with; visas. 

After the Grand Prix Final, he and Viktor had talked, and together they decided their next home be in  Russia. There, Yuuri would join the omega’s home rink; it would let Viktor continue to train the young alpha whilst working with his former coach and rink mates, and Yuuri would even be able to maintain his dance classes with Lilia (Minako had asked them to send her an autograph). He also wanted to take a Russian language course, but that wasn't essential. Between Viktor and the fluency of English amongst the other skaters there, Yuuri would be fine.

In any event there was a great deal of paperwork to organise, and this time, it wasn't going to happen halfway through the skating season.Viktor might have got away with it for a while, but even he had had to apply for a visa in the months leading up to the Grand Prix. Not even he had been able to evade international customs law forever.

Likewise, considering his would-be mate would be spending a significant amount of time there, Yuuri didn't exactly want to get on the bad side of the Russian government.He was more practical, and simply didn't have Viktor’s flair for waving these matters aside; thus, while Yuuri arranged transport for some of his things, the omega would be heading home by himself.

In all honesty, it was a good idea — Viktor knew this. For one thing his small, functional but bland apartment had been put up for rent when he shipped its entire contents to Japan and paid up his rent with the landlord. If he and his fiancé were to live together (along with beloved Makkachin), then they would need suitable habitation. It would also be easier to fill in more of the dreaded paperwork there to ensure Yuuri’s visa application went as smoothly as possible.

Viktor also needed to speak to his mother before introducing her to Yuuri. They had spoken on the phone in broken English and the few smattering phrases of Russian which the skittish alpha had picked up in the almost-year spent together, but that was it.Viktor was often called outlandish (or as Phichit phrased it, ‘ _ extra _ ’), but he wasn't so wild that he would simply turn up at his childhood home with his fiancé in tow. No, this was a different level of seriousness that even he didn't dare overlook.

_ Poor Mama _ , he mused, chastising himself a little.  _ I always give her such surprises. _

Her face when he video-called after the final in Barcelona…he couldn't quite work out if she was happy, or simply so stunned that she had no recourse but to cry. If his father had been alive still Viktor would certainly expected a clout on the ear upon his return for frazzling the poor omega woman’s nerves so much. Despite frequent teasing and surprises however, he loved his mother dearly, and wanted to have a chance to speak to her in person before Yuuri arrived. She had worked hard to help him reach where he was today, and without her he would have been utterly lost during his early career. He hadn't been home in years, and the visit was long overdue. 

The video which had caught his attention so swiftly had been right after a slew of competitions. He hadn't even  _ seen  _ her after the season had ended. No sooner had he gone back to his flat for a well earned lie in and recovery from the jet lag than he had been calling an international courier for his belongings and booking another flight. Or at least, this was how it had felt.

He also needed to come of his suppressants before the next season started, and so far, this was not something his darling Yuuri was prepared for. In a way, Viktor wasn't either — he hadn't experienced a heat for such a long time that the notion of sharing one so suddenly wasn't a comforting thought. Once Yuuri came to Russia, the subject would be discussed more openly — they had already agreed to this. For now, slight kisses, the reassuring bands of gold, and (when Yuuri was feeling particularly bold, in moments which made Viktor feel  _ spoiled  _ and  _ seduced _ ) intense but gentle scenting was enough for both of them.

“It’s going to take months to get the application through,” Viktor bemoaned in English, putting aside his chopsticks and setting aside the bowl (the last of the katsudon he would be having for a while). “Are you sure you won’t come?” he pouted, yawning and stretching as Yuuri scrubbed his hair with a towel.

“I still don't have a passport, so I can’t,” Yuuri reminded him. 

Ah, yes, there was that too. Yuuri’s passport had expired after the Grand Prix Final.  _ Дерьмо́ _ . It would take another couple of weeks for that to come back renewed, and then the business and transit visas would have to be taken to the Russian consulate. If Yuuri weren't so stubborn, Viktor might have been tempted to stay in Hasetsu. Frankly, it seemed far easier (and faster) to apply for Japanese citizenship instead.

“I need to sort things but it’ll work out — with any luck I'll be flying over before Four Continents begins. It's the best idea; don't you want to work under Yakov on your own programmes?” Yuuri asked. “You’ll have to burn off all those katsudon too.”

Viktor huffed. “I can feel the muscle burn already,” he sighed. “Yakov is going to be so grumpy. And you're leaving me all alone to fend him off. What a mean Alpha you've become Yuuri — I'm shocked.”

Yuuri ignored him, settling for drying his hair some more as Viktor watched his would-be mate. Yuuri’s hair was rather flyaway in the mornings and raggedy after the shower. Even outside of the rink, he used a lot of product to keep it tame, his only show of any vanity.Viktor liked watching him when he dried it, running his fingers through occasionally when it wasn't quite dry enough to be damp, but had lost enough wetness that it was fluffy.

Once dried, and Yuuri had taken his bowl top the kitchen for washing, they left the private room the Katsuki family used for meals and headed along the corridor to his room. Sliding under the covers as Yuuri dropped his glasses onto the nightstand, Viktor waited until the younger man had settled.Then he burrowed close and wrapped around his mate like he was a teddy bear.

“It’s going to be so quiet around here tomorrow night,” Yuuri sighed. He shifted only slightly in Viktor’s arms to make himself more comfortable.

“So you  _ are  _ going to miss me!”

“I never said I wouldn’t,” Yuuri mumbled. “But its-”

“Important, yes, of course” Viktor felt another huff coming on. “But still — you’ll call every day.” The words weren't so much a request as a set proclamation. “And make sure Yuuko records your practices so I can watch them,” he added. 

“I will,” Yuuri nodded. “Makkachin will be upset. She’s got used to having two humans,” he mused, smiling his shy, but earnest little smile back as Viktor nuzzled for his scent; beaches and snow (and that tiny little bit of something which gently reminded everyone that despite appearances, Yuuri was indeed an Alpha).

“All the more reason to come with me tomorrow! I can buy you a plane ticket! I’ll finally get you into first class!” Viktor grinned again as Yuuri cuddled back, their bodies fully entangled beneath the warmth of the covers.

“No,” Yuuri repeated; the warmth apparently had been making him more comfortable too, because his grip became a little firmer. Pulling himself the short distance up, he pressed their lips together.

Viktor sighed again, though with less dramatics this time, enjoying the gentle attention. Always gentle — Yuuri was never pushy. He was encouraging instead, but he wasn't completely immune to his own biology. Viktor had seen some of the secondary gender stereotypes in his mate on occasion, it just took a lot to bring them out.He’d first seen it on the ice, but then in other places too.

Such as when they indulged a little, like now. The kisses would start small, then become firmer, more sure, and then encouraging, with gentle flicks of tongue over Viktor’s lips until they parted. When a slight tinge of contented sweetness peeked into Viktor’s scent through the drab aroma of suppressants and blockers, Yuuri  _ always  _ found his confidence. His grip turned a little firmer and with encouraging arms wrapping around his back, in a few moments Yuuri was on top of him. The change in position — closer, more intimate — riled Viktor in many good ways. He loved seeing his mate come out of his insecurities. It was so  _ enthralling _ .

A contented sound hummed in his throat, his hands beginning their own adventure as Yuuri’s tongue slipped between his lips. Gripping Yuuri’s thighs, Viktor pulled him closer, gasping a little as Yuuri’s fingers, which had been previously unoccupied, pressed gently over the scent glands on his neck. 

It wasn't ticklish, but firm, insistent, and  _ oh _ , that felt  _ nice _ . Scent was starting to surround the two of them. Not strong enough to fill the room, but enough to stir a little more arousal in them both.

Viktor couldn’t help but let out a little keen as Yuuri’s hands tightened through his hair, firm and gentle as he lapped gently at the unmarked flesh on his neck instead. This was even nicer. Viktor’s body was flooded with a warmth, slowly building and building, so silently and secretly that it wasn't until his skin began to tinkle and he felt arousal in his groin and belly that it became apparent.His shoulders twisted arching his body, easier to let the alpha clai— wait. 

No. They had to wait. Why did they have to wait? Viktor couldn't remember. Whining as Yuuri’s mouth left his glands ( _ No! Why? _ ), he was cut of by a gasp and his own hand flying over his mouth as those same lips moved further and further down his chest, to settle in firm circles just inside his slicked hole. He couldn't let Yuuri’s parents and sister hear this, but just because they had agreed to hold off on mating (and spending one of Viktor’s heats together) did not mean complete and utter innocence. 

“Viktor?” Yuuri asked in a heavy whisper — he always had to check, and it made Viktor’s heart melt every time he did. In reply, Viktor let out a soft, silent cry, an encouraging sound meant only for his mate’s ears. His hand gripped Yuuri’s where it had stopped atop one of his thighs, holding it in place. He whined impatiently, and Yuuri nodded.

The cool air slipped down over his hips as they both worked to shrug off each other’s boxers, then Yuuri was on him. Viktor’s hands curled into his hair as the alpha swallowed his cock without a flinch, doing his best to muffle the gasps and moans spilling from his lips.

The first time they'd done this, Viktor was secretly sure Yuuri had lied about never having a bond-mate. Then Phichit had confirmed it was no lie. Now Viktor could only assume his mate had an inbuilt, instinctive knack for erotica (it was the only way to explain why the self-confessed virgin alpha was so phenomenal with his tongue and had zero gag reflex).

The shivers of pleasure coursed through Viktor all the way up to his shoulders, draining down his spine and depleting his brain of rationale as it did so. His gasps of arousal fell freely, and then he whimpered, brazenly arching his neck to one side as one of Yuuri’s fingers slid further into him without warning. Luckily for both of them, in contrast to his usual blazing personality, Viktor wasn't loud at all when his mate offered such attention.

A second finger joined the first, rubbing his slicked walls so perfectly, Yuuri’s lips wrapped around him, his tongue sensitive on his hardness too. Whimpering desperately, Viktor was caught between pushing down against his mate’s fingers, or trying to find relief up inside his mouth.He almost came, but his alpha had other ideas. Whimpering as Yuuri pulled his lips away with a small, shiver inducing ‘ _ pop _ ’, Viktor flailed a little, trying to grab hold of him, encourage him, get him to just—

A full moan spilled from his lips as yuuri lifted his hips a little, pushing a third finger inside. “I want to watch you,” Yuuri mumbled, his hands holding their two hard erections together, bending low over his mate to continue the wondrous assault with his fingers. “I want to see you when you come,” he added, bending further and pressing onto Viktor a loving but fumbled kiss.

Fogged and high with arousal, Viktor could only keen his agreement as his fiancé descended upon him, lost in his own intense arousal and determination to please. Sometimes Viktor wished Yuuri would be more selfish, but how was he to argue at such a moment?

His spine tensed with volts of bliss as, his alpha’s lips pressing deliberate kisses to his neck. It just felt like further torture. Blissful, unrelenting, torture. Yuuri was stroking his length, to match the press of his fingers, but every time he felt like he was about to come, he slowed.

Or worse, he stopped his body in its tracks with a gentle but firm squeeze. “Yuuriii…” Viktor gasped feeling slightly desperate now, sure his scent was rolling off him without control in its attempts to lure the Japanese alpha in. It didn't work — much to his delight, Yuuri was merciless when they were intimate, and his mate ignored his plea until he was whining blabbering mess of want and his scent was so thick that it tripped the scent blocker on the door. Then, finally, chest heaving breathlessly and a long moan and Russian swears on his lips, Viktor found his release.

* * *

“Are you sure you're really a virgin?” Viktor couldn't help groaning, half tired, half turned on again as those same slicked fingers wiped some of the cum which had landed on Yuuri’s face away, and were then licked clean. “Because you definitely don't seem like it sometimes.”

Not that Viktor could say much. He’d had one significant sexual relationship, shared a heat with a girl from Yakov's rink when her cycle went crazy between skating seasons, and had one experience with a Heat Contractor in Vancouver after the Olympic finals had set his own off. That was it. Certainly not enough to avoid calling himself a hypocrite; the life of a bachelor indeed. Yakov got too creative with his wording sometimes - Viktor was certain he was the source of all that press propaganda.

The point was, even with that limited experience, it had all been pretty safe. All of his previous partners had been omegas too. Even the heat contractor he barely remembered (it had been hazy after a point, but he'd been clear enough to sign the papers Georgi has whisked under his hotel room door before the man arrived). Never an alpha — that was a one time thing. He liked alphas. A great deal, but he was a romantic at heart too. Viktor had always hoped when he did meet a good alpha that it would be person who gave his love story a happy ending.

He was glad he'd waited to meet Yuuri,his shy alpha. Yuuri was new to him in more ways than the younger man thought, and yet…how could just sit there and do absolutely filthy things with his fingers and tongue without even noticing?

Maybe he should ask Phichit again, with more insistence this time.

“It’s not like I was completely celibate.” Yuuri flushed, face and cheeks going completely red as he caught the tone of Viktor’s gaze. “I’ve watched stuff, bought magazines…sometimes,” he mumbled, his own breathing a little harsh, but not from exhaustion.Following his mate’s gaze as Viktor looked down at his lingering erection, Yuuri flushed even redder, pulling the blankets over his groin quickly. 

“Ignore it,” he said quickly, his voice faltering a little.

“Yuuri… this is hardly fair.” Viktor pouted. “You always get me off, so why won’t you let me help you out too?” He sulked. “You're even knotting this time — isn't that uncomfortable when you're not in rut?”

His mate just seemed to flush even more; looking closely as he was, Viktor could see the tightness in his shoulders and brow, and the slight sheen of sweat on his cheeks and collar bone that betrayed that he was indeed uncomfortable.

“Yuuri,” Viktor whined, ensnaring his alpha in his arms and flopping them both onto the pillows. “Please don't tell me you're embarrassed.” He sighed dramatically. “Honestly, Yuuri, you just tounged my glands, hand-jobed me to the high heavens, and fucked me with your fingers, and that wasn't anything we haven't done before. You have that effect on me too _ Поросёночек _ ,” Viktor smiled simply — it was the truth in all its sincerity. “Your alpha side is sexier than you realise, especially when you ravish me like that.” He added a wink for extra charm. 

Yuuri choked, and Viktor rolled so he could cross his arms on his mate’s chest. Not only could he give his mate the most adoring, imploring look he could make, he could also keep Yuuri from running off for another shower, as was his habit. 

“We are engaged, are we not? Surely it's not too difficult for me to at least give you a blow job? I’m starting to worry a little that our physical relationship is rather one sided,” Viktor frowned. “Or do you not want me to?”

Yuuri was very good at blushing these days, but he managed to find his voice. “No! That’s not — of course not! It’s just…new. I’m not used to reacting like this so much and…” he looked away, perhaps realising it was impossible for his face to turn another shade of red, and seeking other ways to show embarrassment instead.

“And what?” Viktor asked, sensing his mate was opening up, giving his own glands a gentle nuzzle. Yuuri’s scent was still sterile from suppressants but Viktor had caught his scent once.It had been during the Cup of China, during the programme that had blown away Yuuri’s then insecurities. It had been utterly intoxicating — Viktor was sure if Yuuri hadn't doused himself in scent spray on the way to the kiss and cry he’d have started getting slick right there in the rink. 

He couldn't wait until they could both stop taking them.

“Nothing,” Yuuri said stubbornly, pulling his glasses off and depositing them on the bedside table, a clear indication that this was the end of the discussion. “It’s fine Viktor — you've got an early start tomorrow remember? Bad enough we already misbehaved.”

And with that, Viktor snuggled closer, growling petulantly — he’d forgotten about the flight for a moment. Of course Yuuri would insist on being  _ reasonable _ . He was sure there was something lingering, but Yuuri had a point.The flight was ridiculously early — 2:00am — and he would be awake again in six hours. His mother would be meeting him at the airport, but he had a twenty-two hour flight first. He had to try and counter for the six hour time difference, and it had been the best one he had found.Hopefully the landing between 7:00 and 8:00pm would potentially negate any jet lag, but it would be a lonely flight without Yuuri or Makkachin (who had not been approved for the flight in time, and so would also be returning with Yuuri).

“You're right,” he sighed, burying his nose into Yuuri’s hair. “I still wish you were coming with me though.”

A comforting rumble began to emerge from his mate, almost like a purr, but deeper. Something distinctly alpha. “I’ll miss you too Viktor,” Yuuri said quietly.

The words were small, but he really didn't have to say any more than that. Starting to purr back, Viktor pulled his mate close, the smaller alpha tucking his head beneath his chin. 

Sleep did not come easily, but even being able to rest in each other’s presence for one last night was enough to ease their concerns for the moment.

* * *

[Дерьмо́ - Shit]  
[Поросёночек - Piglet]

* * *

Many thanks to [@orangscarfblueglasses](https://orangescarfblueglasses.tumblr.com) for correcting and ensuring the Russian language is not butchered by my blatant ineptitude. Many, many thanks! She also has some _wonderful_ resources for YOI fandom writers for St. Petersburg!

 **30.04.2017  
Edit:** This fanfic is now Beta-ed by the Wonderfull _Queen!_ You can find them at [Tumblr](http://sea-goddess-amphitrite.tumblr.com) or [AO3!](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KatsudonNikiforov/pseuds/KatsudonNikiforov)


	2. Landing Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor has the flight from hell, surrounded by screaming babies.

With a rude awakening from his alarm clock later (early) the next morning, Viktor found himself yawning exhaustively as he and Yuuri made their way to check in.

Viktor had a small headache that came from lack of food and the early start. He'd had a cup of coffee already, but rather than helping, his just felt jittery and on edge. There was an annoying twang that felt like a sore throat trying to start at the top, just behind his nose, and his hair was still a mess.

Yuuri wasn't much better. His scent was a little clogged and not with Viktor’s. Just sharp and anxious, and the dark circles under his eyes were more than telling. Maybe fooling around the previous night hadn't been the best idea, but…well, it would be their last time being so close to one another for a while. Neither could be blamed.

After heading through to his check-in gate, they had grabbed a couple of meat buns from a takeaway stall before heading over in preparation for the call. Viktor could see the airliner through giant windows already. People were lining up, and it probably wouldn't be long before temporary goodbyes were due, but there was still time. 

Sitting down with his bags, Makkachin barked for some attention, and he smiled, letting her jump up onto his shoulders.  _ “Я буду скучать по тебе, Большая Девочка. Хорошо относись к  _ Yuuri , _ пока меня нет,” _ he sighed, nuzzling her fur affectionately. Makkachin barked, pleased with the attention and equally anxious to please in return, giving a few excited licks to Viktor's cheek before flopping onto his knees (forcing a breath from her master as she scrambled into his lap).

“Mum packed a couple of bento for you. I think you might be able to ask the cabin crew to store one for tomorrow so it stays fresh, but if not I think she put a load of stuff which won’t go off in it,” Yuuri said, leaning against his shoulder, nudging a small on-board pack gently with his foot.

“Your mother is an angel,” Viktor chuckled, sitting watching the other planes on the runway through the windows. He could see one for Turkey, and an Emirates behind the Chinese Spring he would soon be boarding. “Say thank you for me when you get back to the onsen. Will you be finished training for the day when my flight lands?” he asked, tilting his head to lean against his mate too.

He was shattered already, and he wasn't sure if it was caused by the nervous lack of sleep, his impending departure, or the slight anticipation he was feeling. He was going home, and Viktor couldn’t help wondering if his mother’s hair had more grey strands than the last time he saw her. She had once claimed his  _ ‘antics’  _ had put her through two bottles of hair dye in the space of weeks. 

_ ‘He’s just like his  _ Де́душка _ , Vasya,’ _ she used to bemoan to his father.  _ ‘My poor mother worried so much, and now my son! Only instead of hurling sticks and hockey pucks at people's’ shins, he insists on jumping about on ice like a hooligan instead!’ _

“I doubt I’ll be able to until I know you've got home,” Yuuri sighed. “I wish you could text during the flight.”

“That would interfere with the plane,” Viktor teased. Yuuri whined.

“Don’t say things like that,” the alpha pleaded. 

Viktor gave him a tired grin as Yuuri hid his face in his hands. Yuuri had never outright stated it, but Viktor had noticed on their first flight for the Cup of China that his mate was not at home in the air. It wasn't that Yuuri couldn't sit on the plane — he could, proven by his flights to competitions — but he had prescribed Valium for those journeys, and usually slept through all but the shortest ones. 

During the short ones, he twitched at every little movement or announcement, and had paid rigid attention to the in-flight safety procedures. When there had been a small amount of juddering on the flight for the Cup of China, he’d frozen stiff as a board. He had never admit it, but Yuuri greatly disliked flying.

“No excuses. As your coach I won’t allow it. I’m glad you’re worried about me though,” Viktor reassured him, scratching the back of his neck discreetly.

Yuuri gave him a reluctant purr, then the flight call sounded. Reluctantly calling Makkachin down and to his side, Yuuri stood with him, heading for the queue as close as he could.

“Text me when you get to Shanghai,” he pleaded as they wrapped their arms around each other. “And Pulkovo, please,” the alpha begged, pressing their noses together. Many others around them were doing similar displays, formalities dropped as families sent their loved ones off with a little of their scent (for  _ protection _ , their instincts insisted).

“If it will stop you worrying,” Viktor smiled, basking in the scent of his mate for as long as he could. Finally, the queue was moving, and it was with reluctance that he gave Yuuri a last kiss on the lips.

Once through the gate, he waved back, blowing kisses and calling jubilantly, just to see his mate stammer in loved embarrassment as he held Makkachin’s lead. Somewhere a baby was bawling its head off in protest, and Viktor couldn't help but to feel the similarity between the piercing cry and his own instincts.

_ A few weeks, _ he told himself as he headed for the final passport check, ignoring the uncomfortable protest already crawling through his belly from leaving his mate behind.  _ It’s just a few weeks. _

* * *

 

It seemed though, that the universe was protesting at Viktor’s separation from his mate by making the first twenty-four hours apart as horrendous and stressful as it possibly could.

At first all had seemed well. He'd found his seat, pulled out a set of headphones, and started flicking through something on his kindle to pass the time until the stopover in Pudong Airport. It wasn't until they landed, and he switched to a China Eastern Airlines flight, that the problems began to start.

Something must have cause a blip on the safety checks, because they had a two-hour delay before discovering the problem. Which then took two _ more _ before the plane was finally disapproved for take-off, and the passengers informed.

Viktor was glad he'd bought flight insurance when he had to put his credit card down for the next Aeroflot to Sheremetyevo instead of his home airport. It meant another wait before take-off (four hours, stuck in the passenger lounge with grumpy old men and more screaming babies), and Viktor used the time to call his mother and explain the troubles to her. He didn't like the idea of her waiting at the airport at ghastly hours; he would get a taxi home instead. 

He paused over telling Yuuri of the complications, but ultimately decided against it. He was already anxious enough, and Viktor didn't want to distract him from his training (this year, Yuuri would be choreographing a program of his own — his free skate).

Viktor was already feeling unsettled, not happy that he was so far away from his mate. He was used to Yuuri’s muted but reassuring companionship, his constant scent. He had a scarf covered in his it, but that simply wasn't the same.If Viktor was already feeling the tug of anxiety, how would Yuuri feel? His mate was anxious in general. If he knew that Viktor had only just avoided a dangerous flight, he would no doubt feel overwhelmed.

So, instead, Viktor sent short, but reassuring replies to Yuuri’s messages. Just to ease his anxieties. Viktor would tell him the full tale later, but not when he was still flying.

Finally, Viktor was back in the air when the Aeroflot landed, and allowed himself to gorge on both bento boxes Hiroko had made, before turning back to his book with Yuuri’s scarf around his neck, trying not to feel anxious.

Unfortunately, things didn't improve much for the effort to returning to airspace. Though he usually slept well on long flights, Viktor was agitated and restless, and the occurrence of the turbulence Yuuri had dreaded threatened to turn even  _ his _ stomach.That, in turn, disgruntled the baby curled up three rows ahead between her beta mother and omega father, who then proceeded to wake the entire cabin with her incessant wailing. 

Viktor hadn't bothered going for first class at first — he couldn't defend the ludicrous amount of money required for a last-minute seat — but he wished he had, long before the plane even got close to Russian soil.

* * *

 

Finally landing in Moscow, he could have kissed the ground, and was half tempted to book a hotel for the night. The messages from his mother begged him not to though, and Viktor could never deny her.It was another three-hour wait, but the internal flight was short, and he managed to nap until the plane reached Piter.

By the time he had retrieved his luggage (which he was surprised it hadn't been lost in the madness) and made it through the arrivals gate, Viktor was half dead on his feet, but finally, he was home.  And there was a surprise.

As he slumped his feet towards the taxi and pick up zone, a familiar voice called out, and he nearly cried with relief when the small, black haired woman standing beside Yakov waved him over.

“Витенька!”

Ykaterina Viktorovna Kovalenko was exactly as he remembered her, barring a few new smile lines and crow’s feet. She was a small but strong looking woman with thick curly black hair, her blue eyes just like her son’s.It took a few moments until the old nickname and image of his mother got through the travel fog, but when it did, he dropped his bags and rushed over. “ _ Mамочка _ !”

“Витенька! Витя! Vitya, Vitenka, put me down!” the small woman protested when his hug scooped her up from the floor. Until her scent reached his nose, he’d forgotten just how much he missed it, and promptly ignored the request. 

The familiar scent of home — his mother, his family, his  _ pack _ — finally settled his frazzled nerves, and he couldn't help purring. She wasn't Yuuri, but that didn't matter. It had been too long. He had missed her so much, and it was only now he realised just  _ how _ much.

Eventually her composure crumbled too, and Yakov left to hail a taxi as the small family reunited, re-familiarising with each other’s scent. Besides peripheral changes, it was still the same warm scent tinged with the cool chill of his father, the only lingering presence of him in Viktor's memory.

“It's good to have you home Vitenka,” his mother sniffed, wiping her eyes when he finally let her back on her feet — he'd outgrow her by the time he reached 16, much to her frustration. “I was worried you might not get here at all, do you want me to take something?” she asked, as he picked his bags back up. 

“I can manage Mama,” he assured her, but she still took a small wheeled bag that wouldn't fit on the trolley out to the taxi. Yakov was waiting for them, silent and serious as ever.

“Let me take that, Katya,” Yakov offered, holding the back door open for her as the driver helped with Viktor’s bags. “Ignore him, he’ll have to cope with jet lag if he wants to get back into shape. You hear that Vitya? One day, and then I want you at the gym, five A.M. sharp!” he warned in a gruff, but not unpleased tone.

“I’m not even home yet and you're already giving me orders — so mean Yakov!” he grinned wearily.

“That’s what you get for running away and sitting around eating all the time!” Yakov snorted once they were inside the car and his mother had given the driver an address. “Speaking of, any idea when Katsuki’s paperwork will come through? If it’s soon I can have him registered to SCC by the end of the week.”

“I’m not sure, possibly not for a month at least,” Viktor sighed, circling his fingers around the simple band of gold he wore, slumping into the backseat with relief. 

Yakov’s question bought the absence that had been following him from Saga airport to his attention again, and he frowned. Ahh, he missed Yuuri. His scent — even laden with suppressants — would be so relaxing right now. The scarf had long since lost its tenacity, Yuuri’s scent soaked up by the omega through the frankly rather stressful journey.

“Does he mean your Yurachka?”  His mother asked, patting his hand on the seat, quietly, before lifting it up so she could see the ring. “You need to phone him Vitenka, he was so worried when I called.”

Viktor started at her, mouth agape slightly. “Mama…you called Yuuri?” 

How? His mother didn't speak a lick of Japanese besides a ‘ _ おはよう _ ’ that was only fractionally worse than his own. She spoke English, but not much, so how —

“Well, actually I asked Yakov to call, see if he knew anything when we didn't hear from you after your first flight was held up — as if I’d let you get home yourself after all that hassle! I only wanted to know when you landed dear, I promise, but Vitenka, why didn’t you tell him? I couldn’t make it all out, but he was worried! The poor dear was white as a sheet!”

—ah.  _ That _ was how. 

“Yakov!” Viktor growled.

“It’s not my fault you didn't tell him Vitya,” the man shrugged from the passenger seat. 

Viktor sighed, he'd get his revenge later. “I didn't want to worry him Mama,” he told his mother instead. “Yuuri hates flying, but I did message —”

Viktor stopped mid-sentence. Oh no. He'd messaged Yuuri telling him everything was  _ ‘fine’ _ , but if he  _ had  _ spoken to Yakov, then Yuuri had known everything had not, in fact, been  _ ‘fine’ _ . If so, why hadn't Yuuri said anything about his obvious lies? Viktor had eventually phoned and spoken to him while waiting in Shanghai, and Sheremetyevo. Unless…?

_ Yuuri _ . His wonderful Yuuri, who had probably been going out of his mind worrying, had not said anything. Possibly so that Viktor didn't worry, and made all his connections without a distraction. Yuuri had probably been stalking the airport websites for confirmed arrivals and delays, or worse, crash reports! 

_ “Дерьмо́!” _ He said in a strangled voice, scrabbling through his pockets for his phone.

* * *

Viktor flopped onto the sofa with a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he reached down to pick his phone up from where it was charging. 

He'd found it eventually, but it had seen so much use through the many hours since he left that the battery had died before Viktor could even try so much as to hit speed dial. Glancing through the messages he’d received from Yuuri a bit more carefully now, he could see how eerily well timed they were to his landings.

_ Hope your flight is going okay  _

_ Have you landed yet? _

_ Mum wanted me to ask if the bento boxes were alright. _

_ Did you see the fleece in your backpack? Make sure you wear it when you get home! You won’t be as used to the cold anymore! _

Viktor felt like kicking himself, or better, getting Yuri to do it for him. Competitions aside, Viktor was sure the blonde would always be on Yuuri’s team.

Yakov and his mother were talking in the kitchen; he could hear their dull chatter about the plans for his next season as the sipped away some strong tea. It was eight A.M. He was supposed to have landed twelve hours ago. What time was it going to be in Hasetsu?

After tidying and moving everything upstairs, the three had sat down for some of the blini Ykaterina had made. It had been nice, almost like when he first started skating. Yakov used to come by in the mornings to time him on his runs before practice, and he always stayed for breakfast after, talking to his father about Zenit matches.

His eyes strayed to the photo frame on the mantelpiece of his mother kept of his father and he gave it a wave of greeting. “Hi Papa,” he sighed, before glancing back to his phone. Yuuri should be awake back in Japan, Hasetsu was ahead of St. Petersburg. Finding his name, he hit the FaceTime button instantly. Something told him he wouldn't have to worry about waking his mate up.

He was right. Yuuri answered on the second ring; the anxious face that greeted him was just as haggard as it had been during the Cup of China Free Skate.  _ “Viktor! Thank god! You got home! You did, right? Yakov said he’d go to the airport with Ykaterina-san. Did you meet them okay? Or did you stop overnight in Moscow?” _

“I did, we just got everything inside. Mama and Yakov are catching up. I’m sorry, I was going to message you when I landed but my battery ran out on the last flight from Sheremetyevo,” he said, not even sure if he was tired anymore. “What time is it there?”

_ “Nice try Viktor,” _ Yuuri frowned, panic edging away for something slightly less relieved.  _ “But you need to do better than that. I’m mad at you, your mother phoned Yakov, who phoned me, then I ended up calling Aeroflot trying to figure out what time you'd land! All while you kept saying everything was fine!” _

“I know, I know,” Viktor sighed; and he did, he really did. He should have told Yuuri about his flight problems. “I’m sorry, I should have told you, but I didn't want you to worry. You were already so wound up and…” 

It was all he could say, really. Yakov was right, sometimes he could be selfish. Though Yuuri worried too much sometimes too. That said, maybe he should have taken the Valium Yuuri had offered before they left Yu-Topia. At the very least he could have slept through all the screaming infants.

_ “I’d rather worry than make you feel like you have to lie to me,” _ Yuuri said bluntly. Viktor couldn't blame Yuuri for being irritated with him though, he would have been too. There was a tense silence for a moment, then when Viktor looked back at the screen the irritation on Yuuri’s face was gone. Instead big fat tears were streaming down his alpha’s face. 

_ “I’m so glad you got home safe. What if you'd got on that plane in China?” _ Yuuri blurted, burying his face in his hands as his shoulders shook.

“Yuuri! Don’t cry, please! I'm 4,500 miles away, I can’t hug you! I’m fine, I promise! Just mad at China Eastern and Aeroflot!” Viktor begged, throwing out anything he could think of to make his mate stop crying. “Please! I know, put Makkachin on! Wait, does your phone have a scent-transmitter? It’s an iPhone, right? Turn it on, Yuuri!”

_ “I can’t help it! I've been up all night! They said it had an engine problem!” _ Yuuri choked back, as Makkachin started barking in the background, but after a moment, a swirling icon appeared in the corner of his phone screen next to the Bluetooth.Seconds later, Yuuri’s scent — stronger, anxious, upset, angry, but still warm and relieved and loving — was mimicked. It was by no means identical, but it was reassuring for both.

_ “Are you alright?” _ Yuuri asked after a moment. The digital trickery seemed to have worked somewhat, because Viktor knew he felt better. His mate seemed more relaxed too, and wasn't crying anymore.The scent was similar enough to Yuuri’s that, if it hadn't been for the background of Ice Castle, it would have been as though they were right next to each other.

“Just tired. I can’t go to sleep yet though, or I’ll never get through the jet lag,” Viktor sighed. “And I miss you already. I'm sorry, really, I knew it was stupid but —”

_ “Viktor, it’s okay,” _ Yuuri smiled through the screen, the pseudo-scent calming and a little musky as he smiled.  _ “I’m not that angry. Just tell me next time, okay?” _ he pleaded.

“Alright,” Viktor yawned, feeling bleary already. “Are you at the rink? Go through your routine for me, I want to watch you skate.”

_ “Free Skate or Short Programme?” _

“Free skate,” Viktor said. From the corner of the screen, he could see a large bag and what looked like a couple of lunch boxes. Yuuri smiled — bright and warm as always — as he handed the phone to Yuuko. “How long have you been at the rink?” he asked, looking curiously at the video camera set up. Yuuri’s laptop was there too, hooked up with some cables. Odd.

_ “Since about…five A.M.?” _ Yuuri guessed.  _ “I’m trying something. I had the time, and I wasn't doing anything else except pace, so why not?” _

Viktor whined a little as he watched Yuuri glide across the ice to the centre of the rink, falling into the starting stance of his new programme. “Please tell me you don't mean five A.M. yesterday morning. Yuuri! That’s bad for your body! You need to rest,” he scolded, though he was still smiling.Honestly, they were both as bad as each other.

As he began the choreography, Viktor allowed himself to relax. The music wasn't playing, but he didn't need it to. Yuuri’s skating was enough.The flow of his body as he moved had been magical since the first moment he watched it, on a phone screen just like he did now. As he said a few things for Yuuko to take note of and pass on, Viktor felt his eyelids begin to droop.

Yuuri entered into the build-up for a quad-flip, and Viktor mumbled something about not lifting his foot enough, but smiled to himself when Yuuri managed the clean landing. His success rating was getting a lot better with them.

_ “Viktor? Was my entry on the flip alright?” _ a voice called out a few minutes later through the speakers.  _ “Viktor? Are you there? Where’s he gone? That's still the living room I think?” _

_ “Oh that's adorable! He fell asleep watching you skate! Yuuri, your skating is a lullaby!” _ Yuuko said with warm laughter.

Viktor said nothing. He had fallen asleep, but later he would agree with Yuuko. 

He hadn’t been so relaxed in hours.

* * *

[Питер - Piter, local name for St. Petersburg]  
[Я буду скучать по тебе, Большая Девочка. Хорошо относись к Yuuri , пока меня нет. - I am going to miss you Big girl; be good for Yuuri while I am away.]  
[Де́душка- Grandad/Grandfather/etc.]  
[Mамочка- Mum/Mother/etc.]  
[Витенька - Vitenka, a short form or diminutive for Viktor.]  
[Витя - Vitya, another short form of Viktor.]  
[ _おはよう - Good Morning._ ]

* * *

Many thanks to [@orangscarfblueglasses](https://orangescarfblueglasses.tumblr.com) for correcting and ensuring the Russian language is not butchered by my blatant ineptitude. Many, many thanks! She also has some _wonderful_ resources for YOI fandom writers for St. Petersburg!

 **28.05.2017  
Edit:** This fanfic is now Beta-ed by the Wonderfull _Queen!_ You can find them at [Tumblr](http://sea-goddess-amphitrite.tumblr.com) or [AO3!](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KatsudonNikiforov/pseuds/KatsudonNikiforov)


	3. Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri has a lot to work on without his Mate.

The four weeks were gruelling, and practice was just as harsh.

While his fiancé was slowly readjusting to St. Petersburg, Yuuri was adjusting to the absence of a coach (and soon-to- be-mate between his rushes back and forth to the Russian Embassy in Osaka to fill things in and get his Visa application through.

Or one of them at least. He needed both a business visa and a transit visa to be able to fly in and out of Russia for the upcoming season, and to stay there. Even though it was a multiple entry visa, allowing several flights in and out of the vast country, it wouldn't be enough for all the competitions.

He'd have Japans Nationals, Worlds, The Grand Prix, Four Continents, along with all of the qualifiers (Viktor was probably a little optimistic that Yuuri would reach the finals for all of them, but he would probably make the qualifiers), and as of yet he had no idea where he would be assigned.

It made things harder to manage with just a business visa, so he would eventually need a transit one too, and probably a second business at some point. Yuuri had no way to know how long he would be staying in Russia after this season, but he suspected it would be at least another two or three years.

Thankfully he was used to the process from when he lived in Detroit; it wasn't vastly dissimilar to when he reapplied after each season, it was just the paperwork. There was more of it, and he had to go get several new medical tests done, including one for STIs and STDs.

He’d done all that, but before he could submit the full application he needed a letter of invitation from Viktor's home rink. 

Until then he'd have to make do with scent transmitters, FaceTime, and burying himself nose deep in the ice until he could see Viktor again in person. 

The first few days hadn't been too bad - it was when Viktor’s scent started to fade from the bedsheets and the rink, when he couldn't catch the clearing, revitalising yet barely sweet fragrance of his fiancé anymore that he began to feel anxious.

His brain knew that just because he couldn't smell his mate anymore, it didn't mean Viktor had left him. He _knew_ that. But his offlacatory senses hadn't let his limbic and endocrine systems in on the information yet, so they started to go a little haywire.

Yuuri did his best to drown the nagging feeling in his chest and head that insisted he gather up every single piece of victor’s clothing (or anything he had deigned to touch really) and hide it away, just to keep it _safe_. So that the omega would feel equally safe coming back. 

If someone touched Victor’s things besides him, he'd never want to nest in Yuuri’s ‘ _territory_ ’. It was, honestly, ridiculous. He would see Viktor again. Yuuri told himself that every day, because each day without Viktor seemed to only convince his stupid knotted brain that he wouldn’t. 

Ultimately, the best distraction he could hope for was to bury himself in his training, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It had taken a little self-convincing, but he had finally decided on his theme for the season.

That meant he could start working on his choreography for his free skate, and he was looking forward to it. It was a bit daunting, doing this without a coach, but it didn't last long because it wasn't the first time Yuuri had done this by himself. 

Before he left for Detroit, he’d had a Japanese coach after the JSF took an interest in him during his novice days. Sato Yuka had been his coach through juniors, starting when he was eleven after seeing his performances at other, smaller domestic and local competitions. 

At the time she had retired from figure skating for professional, Stars on Ice Japan. Given that it meant a lot of travel, until his junior career began to grow, the coaching had been weekends only, so while his first coach had been there to help with his choreography, he practiced at ice castle a lot by himself at first. 

He usually ended up making changes, and these were reviewed at the weekends when Coach Sato came down Friday through Monday evening to Hasetsu. It was through her that he moved on to Celestino; she also had links to Detroit Skating Club, and when Yuuri had been ready to take on the senior division, she had put them in contact.

Choreography had never been something Yuuri had a personal struggle with; it wove very easily into the spins and step sequences he excelled at. If he had to dislike something about it, working his jumps into the routines generally felt off putting.

His usual thought was always ‘ _If I'm going to flub them, what the point of slotting them in?_ ’. TCS points had been the bane of his life since his junior career, when doubles weren't quite as special as they once were. 

He managed to get the triple toe loop and triple axel first. Those had been followed by sketchy salchows and much more stable lutzes. Flips and Loops weren't quite passable at first, but they got slightly better as time passed.

After that, it was easier to ingrain them though, and by the end of his junior career, his triple axel was fast becoming a favourite, and toe loop had evolved by a further rotation. He'd done a lot of choreography with Coach Sato, but after changing coaches he'd stopped, wanting to get used to Celestino’s methods before trying anything (he probably shouldn't have).

By that point he’d been the Japanese Junior national champion five years running, had two JGP Golds, one from junior worlds, and was itching for his birthday to catch up so he could skate in seniors. 

Celestino had already been signed up as his coach once he met the age requirements, and he'd flown out to train with him for a couple of his National competitions and one Junior Worlds so that they could start getting used to each other before the big move to Detroit.

It had taken so long to reach 19. At that point in his life, skating was such a solace and he’d been progressing so well his nerves hadn't crept up on him. 

It didn't matter that he was awkward around people - he just had to skate and he knew, back then, that he was a _good skater_. Back then, he'd met expectations. Not like Viktor maybe, but his work had paid off; he'd placed on podiums and shone above the competition. 

To be good, he had to practice twice as hard - he wasn't a genius, so that meant that he needed to spend twice, thrice, no four times as much practice in the rink than the other competitors - but he didn't care.

He didn’t have time for a social life, and that had suited him just fine. He had a few text buddies from the JSF, fellow skaters, but a lot of them lived closer to the big cities, and he'd felt out of place, so he they were never close. 

As he got older he also became the only male figure skater to qualify for international competitions - those behind him at nationals just hadn't met the cut for Four Continents or Worlds, and the ones ahead of him had slowly retired.

Eventually, he'd been left to himself and he was happy with that; he had Yuuko and Takeshi, and his family, and… eventually, Vitya. 

His thoughts fell to Viktor again, and he smiled a little to himself wondering what his mate was going to think when he finally revealed his new season theme, and the music. Yuuri had learned from the past year. Parts of his brain still told him that he wasn't good enough for Viktor - not yet - but he had finally achieved something in his senior career, and he felt… better. 

He felt like he was back to that time after juniors, ready to take on everything and join Viktor on the ice. This time it would be different; silver wasn't good enough for him. Yuuri had never claimed he didn't want to win, and that especially alpha part of his brain was _itching_ for it. He wanted to prove himself. 

Blades scraping to a halt on the ice, he pulled up against the wall, picking a notepad up off the table, humming one of the tunes in his head as he crossed out components and replaced them with new ones that had worked themselves in a little easier. 

He wanted to at least have the bones of both programmes before Viktor looked at them, but he still had to work in a lot of elements. Could he do it before his flight? Whenever it would be? Ugh. The thought of flying made him feel chill - best not to think about it before he had to.

“Yuuri! You should go home and rest for the day. If you want to come back and work on your jumps later I’ll set the camera up again,” Yuuko voice called out.

Yuuri sighed, listening to Yuuko’s voice even as he wondered how long it would take to hear back from the Russian embassy. With the rate things were going at right now, he'd probably have finished both programmes before he saw his mate again.

“Yeah, I'm just getting distracted now,” he sighed, heading to the rink side; Yuuko handed him his skate guards, and he leaned on the wall, putting one on before stepping onto the tiles, then following with the second foot. “I’ll go over to minds after lunch. Do you mind if I leave my things with you till then?”

“No problem, are you okay? You seem a bit… I don't know…” she hesitated. “frustrated?”

Yuuri sighed, sitting down in tone of the stand seats and starting to wipe off some of the sweat with a towel - he'd grab a shower at home - before starting to unlace his skates. “I guess I'm just not used to practicing by myself anymore,” he said, before realising his friend was standing infant of him. “Ah! I didn't mean it like that - I know I'm not really by myself, I just mean-”

Yuuko chuckled, helping him with the second skate “It’s alright, I know what you meant, I don't know how you can stand it, being away from Viktor…” she sighed, carefully making sure the guards were on before pulling off the left boot with some gingerness.

They used to do this when both alphas were still competing together as novices. They'd wait for each other at the kiss and cry, and help pull the tight leather skates of aching, sore feet long before the blisters had started. 

“Its easier I guess, since we aren't bonded yet but… its strange, not having his scent around. I kept one of the boxes with his clothes in. the ones that were supposed to be shipped last week.” he groaned, slowly pulling one foot up to check it over.

There were a few blisters from the jumps he’d attempted for a bit too long, but not major ones, they would be gone by morning. But the pinched appearance, the almost deformation, and discolouration in his toes made him frown.

“Maybe, but pre-bonding exists you know? I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't already. It happened to me and Takeshi after all,” Yuuko reminded him.

Yuuko had almost followed Yuuri through seniors. She’d been in the women’s singles for a time, until she was 17. That was when she got pregnant; Yuuko had never regretted anything, though she’d made him promise to keep skating for the both of them.

His feet were certainly a testament to that now. Yuuko was one of the few people who knew how awful his feet were. She’d bandaged them up enough times that she was probably the only one besides Phichit who was allowed to. Yuuri knew it was stupid, but he didn't even let Viktor see his feet, or his family. They were just… horrible.

“You should probably think about new skates before you fly out though Yuuri” she frowned, wincing when he checked between his toes and found his skin had been rubbed six ways to Sunday. “I know breaking them in sucks, but at least you'd have it over with,” she added, digging a pot of skin cream out of his training bag and handing it over before looking for some foot supports.

Yuuri made a face. “I like these skates though…” he said petulantly. He knew Yuuko was right. His boots were happy and well worn, but the leather was a little thin in places, his feet were aching more in the boots when he wasn't on the ice, and god knows how many times he’d replaced the laces. 

His blades were still going strong, but he'd had them for about seven years across two pairs of boots. He really out to get a new set before the season started. He knew that. He just _hated_ breaking in new skates. It only got worse as he got older.

“Now you sound like Viktor,” Yuuko laughed, handing him the bandages and slipping his skates back into their bag. “That’s his pouting face. Have you told him your theme yet?”

“No,” Yuuri said, finishing up with the bandage and cream and pulling on his sock before moving onto the other foot (this one was worse - burst blister, and a little blood on his ankle where the leather had been pressing consistently with his quad flip). “I want to show him my choreography first and see if he can work it out.”

“I wish you’d tell me what it- Ack! Sorry!” her hand had slipped on his second foot, hitting a metatarsal that was always achy - after practices it stung like hell, but it had been checked, and there were no problems. It was just a result of physics and gravity from jump landings on his bones after twenty years.

“Its fine, do you have a free day this week? I’ll have to go up to Osaka to replace these, and hopefully next week or the one after I’ll be able to submit my visa forms, so it’d be best to kill two birds with one stone,” he asked - it’d be a lot less stressful if he had someone to pass the time with.

“Hmm, well, we could all do with new blades,” Yuuko mused. “I’ve been holding off replacing the girls’ ones because they're growing so fast but… are you going to Kosugi again then?”

“They are kind of one of my sponsors, and they do nice blades. I know you like the western ones, but they're really popular with the female skaters in the JSF now,” he said. He'd been badgering Yuuko to try them for years. Yuuri had always used them, and it was only after a question from a reporter when he mentioned the brand that he'd received the sponsorship offer. 

Free skates and equipment for endorsing a brand he already liked? He didn't have problems with that. He looked at sponsorship as a task most of the time, but he loved his favourite blades, so didn't feel bad about promoting them sincerly.

“Alright, if you can last in these things till then, I’ll bring the girls and Takeshi, we can have a trip out! They've never been to Osaka, one last trip before you leave us for the mystery of Russia!”

Yuuri groaned as he pulled his trainers on. He was regretting this already.

* * *

 

Flopping down infant of his laptop was currently the best part of yuuri’s day; his laptop contained all his music, links to gaming chatrooms, skating blogs, and routine plans, along with something else.

Facetime. It used to be only for Phichit, but now, it meant Viktor. they had quickly worked out the best time to call so that the time-difference didn't bother either of them too much. lifting the lid it gently came to life, a few email notifications popping up, including one that immediately caught yuuri’s eye.

There between all the advertisements, a list from Mizuno about new practice equipment orders (he needed to remember to order new gloves and training gear before leaving for St. Petersburg - part of his contract stipulated he had to wear something JSF approved in case any media showed up), ballet and dance information sites, and the online crash course in basic russian was a message.

it had been sent to his JSF correspondence account rather than his personal email address, and the sender was an instant give away -  _Yakov._

* * *

Recipient: 勝生勇利JSF-PA@skatingjapan.or.jp  
Sender: _Y-Feltsman-SkatingChampionsClub@russkating.ru_  
CC: _VV-NikiforovSkater@gmail.ru_  
Subject: Coaching Invitation Letter re; Visa Application.

* * *

Your letter. Sorry for the delay. PC broke.  
Yakov.

 

Attached Documents:

  
Official Letter.pdf  
translation for Katsuki.doc.

 

> * * *
> 
> Г-н Кацуки,
> 
> Мы рады продлить ваше приглашения тренироваться в Клубе Чемпионов Фигурного Катания в Санкт-Петербурге. Вы будете зарегистрированы у старшего тренера Я. Д. Фельцмана и младшего тренера В. В. Никифорова в соответствии с правилами JSF и ISU с минимальным контрактом на 1 год. Любые изменения в контракте могут быть совершены позже, если... 
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

> Mr Katsuki,
> 
> We are pleased to extend our invitation to train with the Skating Champions Club, St. Petersburg. This will register you with Senior Coach Y. F. Feltsman and Junior Coach V.V. Nikiforov as per JSF and ISU regulations, with a minimum contract of 1 year. Any contract extensions may be determined at a later date, or if.…

* * *

As soon as he had read the first few lines of the translation, Yuuri had the letter printing out, quickly tucking it away safely into the document wallet containing his visa application, doctor’s notes from his health checks, ISU certification documents, his degree certificates, birth certificate, personal seal records, secondary-gender rating paperwork, and everything else needed for the Russian consulate officials. 

All he needed now was the doctor's note confirming his cessation of suppressants, and to actual come off them, which was booked for tomorrow morning. Then, finally, he would be clear to start booking the nearest available flight after the application had been approved.

Yuuri gave his room a quick check to ensure it was tidy. Then he jumped into FaceTime. The few seconds he had before Viktor answered were agony to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written Yuuri a little differently in terms of his junior career. I've been skulking metas and tweet-translations, and this is my own head canon for his Pre-GPF accomplishments. Especially since Yuuri should be the face of Unreliable Narrator on TV Tropes.
> 
> Once again, thank @orangescarfblueglasses for the legitimate and comprehensible Russian.


	4. Phichit's Word Vomit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viktor uncovers a side of Yuuri in Detroit he didn’t know before, and wonders if he needs to worry.

The few seconds he had before Viktor answered were agony to wait, but his face popped up on the screen looking weary but with a wide smile on his face.

‘ _Yuuri!_ ’ he called out, waving through the phone screen. ‘ _How was your practice today? Did you settle anything on any of your choreography? You said you started some yesterday, but the video didn't load to my cloud,_ ’ he frowned.

There was a familiar squawking in the background - Ykaterina-san’s parrot Gosha, whom Viktor apparently had ‘ _mutually discordant_ ’ relationship with. He could tell that Viktor was currently in his mother’s living room, having seen the photo on the wall behind him several times when he and Viktor spoke to her before the GPF Final.

“Yes, and No, I'm not telling you what my theme is yet. It’s a surprise,” Yuuri said stubbornly. Viktor huffed, but nodded. He'd raised an eyebrow the first few times Yuuri refused to show him, but now he seemed to be at ease with it. Sort of. “I just got Yakov’s email. He sent you a copy too — did you get it?”

Viktor frowned, but his eyes moved away from the focus on the camera, searching on his phone through the apps until he found the message from Yakov which had been carbon-copied to him. Yuuri smiled as his face changed to a small expression of realisation, mouth half open, his scent slowly becoming ‘ _fizzy_ ’ with excitement through the transmitters.

‘ _Ah, he finally sent it! Mila or Yurio must have caved and helped him attach the files at the rink office. This is all you needed to bring to the consulate in Osaka isn't it?_ ’ Viktor asked eagerly, his eyes almost glittering with excitement. Yuuri nodded, and he let out a jubilant exaltation, one which caused Gosha to start screeching in protest.

‘Заткнись, ты, проклятая птица! Ты портишь момент, Гоша, ты летающая пернатая крыса!’

‘Витя, перестань на неё орать! Ты знаешь, она это ненавидит!’ Ykaterina-san shouted in an exasperated but fond manner only a parent knew so well.

‘Нет, мама, мы просто ненавидим друг друга; Стоит мне открыть рот, как она начинает визжать! Разве нет, ты, глупый, сумасшедший, нарциссический стервтяник?’ Viktor snapped to a corner of the room Yuuri couldn't see. ‘Клянусь, если ты не заткнёшься, я скормлю тебя Маккачину как только Юри приведёт её сюда! Я сделаю из тебя курицу барбекю, ты, пернатая заноза!’

The bird continued squawking and Yuuri couldn't help laughing as Viktor started arguing to the parrot in incomprehensible Russian, his face twisting not unlike Yurio’s did sometimes. For whatever reason, his mate really, really hated that poor parrot.

‘ _Ah! Yuuri I’m so sorry! I can’t help it!_ ’ Viktor realised when he caught sight of him laughing away at the other end of the video call. ‘ _Gosha just irritates me so!’ he huffed. ‘So, you're going to send the paperwork soon?_ ’

“The Nishigoris are coming out with me to Osaka so I can hand it in directly. With any luck that will help things speed up a bit,” Yuuri smiled after recovering — it wasn't often he got to see Viktor so openly loose his cool like that. “I need to get some new skates and boots too.”

‘ _Ah, Yuuko finally convinced you then? Really, you have a sponsorship deal with a reliable skate brand — you should take advantage of it more! I've been telling you for months! What does she have that I don't Yuuri?_ ’ Viktor gave a mock pout.

“You’ve been talking to Phichit,” Yuuri guessed by the dramatics; his friend and mate had clicked straightaway after the GPF, unsurprisingly.

‘ _Of course! How else am I supposed to find out about your days in Detroit?_ ’ Viktor asked. ‘ _I thought you went to college there, but Phichit said you only took lectures as part of a long distance class?_ ’

“I registered at Kino before I left for Detroit since they had a good programme for professional athletes,” Yuuri explained. “I did the exams for my degrees there, but most of the content was mailed to me, or online, or I was put through a corresponding class at Michigan University,”he explained.

‘ _Ah, sounds like what Mila did when Yakov had to move to Moscow, after Lilia kicked him out when I entered seniors,_ ’ Viktor mused. ‘ _I can’t believe you took up pole dancing though! Even now, so long after the banquet! You were stunning Yuuri! Phichit’s pictures pale in comparison! Wait, is that Vancouver 2010? You were at_ _Vancouver???_ ’

Yuuri groaned. Phichit had promised not to show anyone those! 

"I was but I didn't place very high. It was Oda-san who was aiming for the Podium. But I got picked, and Celestino wanted me to have the experience. Back to the present day - aside from trawling Phichit’s photo gallery of my cross training, what else have you been doing? Training today?” he asked. 

‘ _Nope! Today is my rest day, so I’m having a nest-off!_ ’ Viktor smiled simply, looking strangely proud of himself.

“…Come again?” Yuuri blinked. Nest-off? Was that like a bake-off? Or a dance-off? Either way the thought of Viktor nesting flushed his cheeks. “Wait, I thought your heat wasn't due for another few months?”

‘ _It isn’t, I still have to get approval to come of my suppressants, but that’s irrelevant, it’s an Instagram thing,_ ’ Viktor explained with a smile.

“Ah, enlighten me?” Yuuri asked, smiling at the strange eagerness.

‘ _Not much to it really,_ ’ Viktor shrugged. ‘ _You hash tag someone, challenge them, build a nest, and whoever’s picture gets the most likes wins. Even a few alphas are getting in on it trying to impress their bond mates,_ ’ he chuckled.

“That doesn't seem so difficult,” Yuuri chuckled. “Who challenged you? Or are you challenging someone?”

‘ _Chris challenged me,_ ’ Viktor huffed, crossing his arms irritably, picking up his phone and moving through the house. There was an ugly screech from Gosha as Viktor passed the cage, and headed up the stairs. ‘ _Look at it Yuuri! I’m going to fail completely!’_ he bemoaned, showing Yuuri the collection of stuffings and blankets set into the platform. ‘ _I haven't made a nest for nearly 18 years!_ ’

The platform was a framework for most nests, allowing some enclosed sides, most of which were adjustable depending on preference. The mattress was recessed into it, and Viktor had moved his completely since Yuuri had last seen it through the phone camera.

Now, the squoval-shaped frame had been pushed into the corner of his room where two walls met (Yuuri remembered a similar set up just down the hall). There was also a rail set on the ceiling, and some thick curtains currently pulled back at one side of the nest for privacy.

The nest itself was… haphazard. Blankets were thrown everywhere, laced with several large poodle plushes that had most likely been gifts from victors fans, extra cushions, and sheets hanging over the gap in the framework for entering the nest.

“I-I…” Yuuri couldn't help flushing and stuttering — even if they were engaged he could still hardly believe Viktor was so comfy with showing his nest to him. They were safe havens, places of intense intimacy, even outside of heats. “I think it looks cozy,” he said truthfully.

It was true; it made his skin ripple with a unique warmth that only came from affection. He wished he was there, just so they could snuggle up together in it. 

He’d never, ever say that out loud though. No way. He'd never intrude on a space so intimate to any omega or even mention one unless it was brought up first. Things like that just weren't spoken about. Phichit had let him into his family regularly, but that was... different.

The very fact that Viktor was showing him his nest at all (even through FaceTime) was enough to offend all his propriety, and make his knot head brain purr at the same time.

Knowing he was trusted enough to see even a temporary nest belonging to his mate made him feel warm and gushy, and he cursed the 4,500 mile distance yet again. 

It wasn't like when Phichit had started to present — they were already roommates who snuggled together before the Thai boy began nesting, and later asked him to share it. This was different. Viktor was his mate — he was showing him this first because hopefully one day…

‘ _Really? You think so, that’s a plus at least,_ ’ Viktor beamed, almost too happy as his voice broke Yuuri’s train of thought.

“Are you really going to take a photo though? All your fans will see it…” Yuuri asked, trying not to let his head feel too outraged by the thought. He really didn't like the idea of stranger’s nosing into his mate’s private area of calm and solace. It just felt… wrong. Uncomfortable. Invasive.

‘ _It’s not going to be used, so its fine. Once I'm finished I’ll put everything back. Chris is going to blow this out of the water anyway, his nest-off shots are always freakishly immaculate,_ ’ Viktor chuckled. ‘ _But I thought it would be an interesting platform to drop the bomb on our fans so to speak, plus whoever wins donates to charity, so good PR too,_ ’ he added, reminding Yuuri of another worry. ‘ _That’ll keep the RSU off my back for a while._ ’

None of their fans knew their secondary genders; Yuuri had always too anxious about not meeting his fans expectations (once he realised he had them, at any rate), and Viktor preferred not having to worry about it. He claimed smells were distracting on the ice sometimes, which Yuuri agreed with.

Viktor couldn't stay on his suppressants any longer though. They both wanted to bond, and if Viktor was still suppressing, they couldn't do it. That meant they both needed to ‘ _out_ ’ themselves, so to speak. 

It was illegal in most modernised countries for bonded omegas to continue taking suppressants via the W.H.O, so Viktor would be coming off them permanently. Birth control was easily available for both of them. Viktor would just be able to smell everything and would have heats again, much to Yakov’s relief.

Viktor’s coach had wanted him to stop before he flew out to Japan for legitimate health reasons. Suppressants could sterilise Alphas and render omegas infertile no matter what their main gender. Viktor never took them between seasons for that reason.

Yuuri had taken them since joining the Senior circuit, but before that he’s more or less learned how to control his scent, enough that the spectators wouldn't pick up on it at any rate. That was easier for alphas though — either he managed it himself or scent blockers did the job. Omegas normally needed something a little stronger though (Viktor had mentioned his scent was persistent too).

“It’s one way to do it, but… are you really sure about this Viktor?” he asked, for what was probably the hundredth time. He couldn't help but feel anxious about it all. 

He had to do it — it was one of those rules for going to live in Russia – and Viktor had decided to do the same not just for the sake of bonding, but for support too. 

Yuuri had never been a clear cut, obvious alpha though. He sometimes wondered if he was–

‘ _Yuuri, we’ve been through this, and it’s the best thing to do. I know you're worried, but everything it will be fine, I promise._ ’ Viktor said with a soft smile. ‘ _Well, it’s not perfect, but it won’t exactly be subtle once I come off my suppressants_ ’ 

“I know, I just can’t-”

‘ _Can’t help worrying,_ ’ his fiancé finished for him. ‘ _I know darling, but I don't think it will be as terrifying as you think. Besides, you can’t train here without declaring your presentation, we can’t bond with them, and I can’t stay on them after that. But most importantly, I miss you! I can’t take being separated much longer my love!_ ’

Yuuri couldn't help smiling, gazing a little wistfully into the phone camera. “I miss you too,” he said. “How was your practice yesterday afternoon after I called?” he asked, hoping to change the topic. He didn't want to think about too many heavy things.

‘ _Yakov is still making me spend four hours in the gym to build my pitiful stamina back up, but I've been increasing my ice time,_ ’ Viktor smiled, turning from the room and heading down the stairs again. ‘ _I’ve been practicing my Quad Loop,_ ’ he grumbled.

Yuuri carried his phone over to his bed, propping it up on his pillow and curling up as he listened to victors mild grumbles. “I thought you didn't like the Quad Loop?”

‘ _I don’t mind it, but I’d rather practice my Lutz, or Triple Axel,_ ’ the Russian sighed. ‘ _They’re both shaky now, and I never liked Axels much either, not like you. Yours are a thing of beauty — will you land one for me in your next video? I'm miss your triple axels!_ ’

“I’ll try,” Yuuri laughed. “But no promises. I've got choreography to do, and Yuuko gets nervous about practicing jumps without a coach,” he reminded.

Viktor huffed, but moved on to talk about the rest of his afternoon after their last call.

The next day, Yuuri made sure to practice three Triple Axels.

* * *

 The rest of the week for Viktor was spent full of training, rink time, a pathetic attempt at nesting which Chris unsurprisingly trounced with a blissful looking heat room with candles and flowers - Viktor was a traditionalist though, and couldn’t stand the thought of foreign scents in his nest besides his mate’s.

Not that he and your had nested together yet — that would be brought up after he moved to St. Petersburg - but Viktor knew that he wouldn’t be able to stand it. When he had been younger, he, always scrubbed down the walls of the heat room until the scent neutralisers were installed like a crazy man.

Between all that he also had doctor’s appointments, and housing to look for. They couldn’t live with his mother forever, though she had insisted that Yuuri and he stayed for a while before moving into their own place — ‘ _It’s so nice to have you home again Viten'ka, and I refuse to let you hide your bond mate from me!_ ’ — she said.

Viktor couldn’t bear to break his mother’s heart when she was looking forward to meeting Yuuri. She had a soft spot for him already, Viktor could tell. He’d caught her looking up Japanese food recipes, and then he’d driven her out to the asian food market to help pick ingredients for katsudon (he’d seen Hiroko-san making it so often…).

His mother was a chef first and foremost, loved feeding people, and she hadn’t really had a large family to do so with in many years; not since the two loves of her life had claimed by accident and illness respectively.

Viktor’s ‘ _Mama Yúliya_ ’ was killed in a car accident when he was 5 years old; he barley remembered her, but knew some of his own scent reminded his mother of her, and he had her hair colouring, if the pictures were anything to go by.

Later, after her bond-mark had faded following her mate’s death, Ykaterina had married Vasily, a beta man who worked at the rink where Viktor’s grandfather (and public namesake) had introduced his grandson to skating and (eventually) Yakov. 

Vasily had adored them both, and he and his mother had bonded when Viktor was 7, after living together and cautious dates while Yakov babysat his protégé (It had almost been like having another, grumpier grandfather then).

His grandfather had passed away when he was 14, and that was when Yakov became a larger part of his life. Just after the Sofia, Bulgaria JGP Final, Vasily had passed away too, when Viktor was 16. Liver cancer he'd not told anyone about.

He knew his mother missed having a large family around her — he sympathised. He had inherited her omega traits and had felt the loss of those close pack bonds just as keenly. 

Yakov really did have the patience of a saint - Viktor’s attitude between 14 and 18 had been somewhat deplorable as a result, but his interpretation of Grief and _Тоска_  on the ice had propelled his graduation from Juniors to the very edge of his talent.

So, if his mother wanted to fuss over his mate, stuff him full of food, tease them about grandchildren, and invite Yuri, Yakov, and Lilia over just to make it worse, Viktor would indulge her. Until he made the national team, he wouldn’t have _had_ his career at all if it hadn’t been for her.

‘ _This particular apartment has full wall insulation and scent blocking,_ ’ a voice said over the phone as Viktor flicked through the imaged that had come through on his laptop. 

“What about the second one?” Viktor asked, leaning back against the seating looking down at the rink, taking a swig from the water bottle in his hand. His black training shirt was starting to dampen with sweat, and his feet would be both foul-smelling and tender by the time he got his skates off, but he’d finished practice for the day, and finally had time to call a housing agent.

‘ _The second one has this too, but it also has a heat room instead of three bedrooms. The two it has are good sizes, and both are en-suite with showers. The main wet room is connected to the heat room,_ ’ the agent said. ‘ _It’s closer to the Skate Champions club than the first too, Viktor, so it might be better suited for your needs._ ’

“And you think you can get them to go under offer on the price?” Viktor asked, biting his lip thoughtfully. The thought of a wet room was a blissful one indeed, and much better where heats were concerned. He’d used one after his olympic heat all those years ago, and they reminded him of baths in Hasetsu now.

‘ _Yes, its been on offer for a while, but nobody seems to be interested due to the ongoing work on Tuchkov Bridge. The owner is stuck in a property chain, and he’s desperate to sell, so I think he’d go lower than the asking price - its already quite inflated_.’

Viktor thought it over, glancing at the pictures; it wasn’t as clean cut modern as his last apartment, and looked warmer even without many furnishings, but he would have to see it in person. “Alright, ask them if its possible for a viewing this Friday at…” Viktor pulled out a piece of paper form the scribbles beside him converting Russian time to Japanese time. “9:00am?” He decided — that would be mid afternoon for Yuuri, so he should be free for FaceTime then.

‘ _I’ll phone the agent then, I should have a reply for you in a couple of hours at most._ ’

“Thank you, Ivan,” Viktor smiled.

‘ _Your welcome, I’ll leave you to practice - I’m sure you’re busy. Until later!_ ’

Viktor gave a friendly dismissal before ending the call and tapping out a quick email to Yuuri with photo attachments for the flat. Then he finally pulled of his skates.

He was rubbing moisturiser in to his feet (aching, aching, shocked from jumps feet) when Yuri flopped down in front of him in the next row, discordant expression somewhat more exacerbated than usual.

“And what has you so wound up today котёнок?” He asked, smiling as Yuri growled, his own skates bag pulled up on the chair next to him. 

“Lena,” Yuri grumbled, attaching his hardgurads to the blades.

Viktor looked up, the back of his neck prickling anxiously. “Is she all right? Has something happened to Nataliya or Sofíya?” He asked worriedly.

“No, but I need to go back to Moscow for a couple of days, she and grandpa need help getting Sofa to her new school,” he explained. “For all the money stuff. I’ve got to pick up forms for Yakov to sign, and I need to go see Tanya.”

“The special needs one you were looking up before leaving hasetsu?”

Yuri nodded. “She got accepted last week, so hopefully that’ll be a load off Lena’s back,” he grunted. 

“Well, that’ll be one less thing for you to worry about at least Yura,” Viktor said. “Are you flying out today? I’ll give you a lift to the airport,” he offered. Yuri glanced, then nodded, following a similar routine to Viktor with his feet before sliding them into his boots.

“I have a doctor’s appointment, but its just to pick up paperwork and get the counter-injection,” Viktor assured him once they were all packed up. “I can drop you off first.”

“You're really going off your suppressants then? Aren’t you worried about your fans? Most of them think you’re an alpha,” Yuri asked. 

“I can’t stay on them forever,” Viktor shrugged. “Besides, I’m engaged! I don’t like walking around without a bond mark,” he said simply. “I miss _my_ Юраечкa,” he sighed forlornly, flicking through some of Phichit’s pictures of Yuuri.

“Ugh, thats disgusting,” Yuri shivered beside him, but Viktor ignored him, flicking the locks off on the car as they approached before climbing into the driver’s seat. “How long till the Katsudon comes out here? I’m sick of your moping!”

“With any luck a month at the most, give or take; he’s got all the paperwork now. Its just a matter of submitting it to the russian embassy in Osaka,” Viktor sighed, pushing the teenager back into the seat properly so he could see the passenger mirror for reversing out of the parking space. “Since he’s on good terms wit the JSF, it’ll probably be expedited.”

“If the RSU hate you so much, how the hell did you even get out of the country in the first place?” Yuri asked, glancing up from his phone – ‘ _Probably Otabek again,_ ’ Viktor mused. ‘ _Or that Pair Skating girl from the other week_ ’

“I’m too fast, and while I cause them no end of headaches, my sponsors love me!” Viktor beamed with blatant sincerity - the teenager made a strangled noise. 

* * *

It didn’t take long to drop Yuri off at his flat to collect his bags, though Viktor was loathe to call it a flat. It was a small place that was more of a bedsit with a separate toilet really. 

Most of the money his rink mate earned from numerous sponsorship deals and podium placings went to his family in Moscow, thenHis rent and turning fees came after coaching fees (though like Viktor, Yuri had some help from the government as a premium athlete). 

As he waited for Yuri, Viktor turned back to his phone, flicking through the images. Never one to go by halves, Phichit always had the scent settings applied, so with the pictures came a cacophony of mixed fragrances; he could smell the faint difference in the Detroit rink ice to that of hasetsu ice castle and his own SCC.

The mineral scent that associated with make-up also came by a pre-competition photo with Yuuri helping Phichit with his eyeliner; that was followed by the exasperated frustration of Celestino as the two roommates pranced about the rink.

Viktor chuckled as he flicked through the pictures, seeing more of them in their flat - including one video being Phichit’s self confessed disaster of a white day celebration when he nearly destroyed the microwave trying to melt chocolate in it.

In the video he's holding up his proudly melted and reformed Tupperware box, which had congealed, burnt, and otherwise melded like a smoking Godzilla fresh from the nuclear plant with the chocolate.

Yuuri is running around choking on the noxious fumes of plastic and burnt chocolate, bemoaning that ' _You can't met chocolate in a microwave Phichit! you melt it in a bowl over boiling water! How can you not know that? I've never even made chocolates and I know that!_ ' as he tries to turn of the shrieking smoke detector.

It struck him as curious though; wasn’t white day a valentine’s thing in Japan? Or had he got mixed up? Maybe it was both. Saving the video - Yuuri’s gobsmacked disbelief was simply too adorable - he hashed out a quick DM to the younger omega.

 

 

> **@v-nikiforov:** _What made you do something for white day - is that celebrated in Thailand too?_
> 
> **@Phichit+chu:** _Nope_ :)
> 
> _Yuuri helped me out for my kwaam gràhăai in Detroit, so I had to make up for the hassle somehow, and I was running out of ideas._
> 
> _We never did get the Tupperware replaced though._
> 
> _Oops!_ :P
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _kwaam gràhăai???_
> 
> **@Phichit+chu:** _Ah, sorry._
> 
> _I forgot the word there, haven’t used English for a while since Celestino’s in Detroit to update his visa._
> 
> _It's Thai for Heat, but I think Thirst is a better translation for what we call it._

Viktor stared at the messages in shock. Heat? That was… not what he had been informed of. Yuuri had told him months ago that he had never been intimate with anyone, back when they were choreographing _Eros_. It had tripped him up on his usually good presentation scores until the cup of China!

He hadn’t realised how long it had been since his last message until a new one popped up on his screen.

 

> **@phichit+chu:** _From the awkward internet silence I’m guessing you didn’t know about that?_
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _You guess correctly, Takkataen._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _Crap, I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t worry! I promise it’s not what you’re thinking!_
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _It certainly sounds like what I’m thinking._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:**   _I swear its not! Theres an explanation! I swear! Shit, I thought you knew_ something!
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _This is the first I’ve heard._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _OK, hang on._
> 
> _So, my parents are both Alphas._
> 
> _And they were ridiculously ansty about their 16-year-old training in a foreign, strange, country without someone to keep an eye out for me (you know how it is yourself) and make sure no strange foreign alphas tried any funny buisness._

True, in a sense; Yakov usually glared at Viktor’s alpha fans without even realising, even though they couldn’t smell him in the first place. Even now, he had a passive-aggressive snarl lingering in the back of his throat whenever Yuuri’s name came up, and Viktor was nearly _30_. He knew Yakov would never outright jump to his defence, but his subtle pack instincts were there.

Still. Viktor  _was_ nearly 30, and he rolled his eyes with a snort, commiserating with the Thai omega. ‘ _Alphas and their instincts._ ’ 

 

> **@v-nikiforov:**   _I must admit,Yakov has had his moments._
> 
> _Do you remember that alpha that snuck into the skater’s hotel during Vancouver 2010?_
> 
> _She was trying to sneak into the room me and Georgi were sharing._
> 
> _I went into heat then too - it was a huge mess._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _Sort of - Yuuri mentioned it when he and Celestino got back._
> 
> _Does '_ crazy American girl with medusa hair _’ sound right?_
> 
> _Or was that the Turin Worlds?_
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _That’s the one._
> 
> _Yakov went nuts, but Georgi found me a different hotel room and an omega heat worker, so it turned out alright in the end._
> 
> _But If she hadn’t been caught by the Canadian police, I probably would have had to seriously talk him down from putting a mob hit out on the woman._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _See, you understand! I love Yuuri, but he never gets it completely._
> 
> _Anyway, Yuuri is good at keeping his scent under control and such, so when it reared its ugly head, he offered to give me a Pack Bond when my parents started freaking out and screaming about dragging me home for it._
> 
> _Celestino registered it an everything, and we pretend he scents me before I leave for competitions to keep them quiet._
> 
> _Well, sometimes he doesn't pretend - he can’t really help it, its a Pack Bond - but its cute, and just his wrists. Honestly, He just makes sure I remember to do all the boring stuff, like eating, drinking fluids, bathing, etc_
> 
> _Maybe I shouldn’t have said bathing._

Viktor choked as Phichit babbled away on his phone several thousand miles away at god knows what time of day it was in Detroit. A Pack Bond? Yuuri? His Юраечкa? This was not something he had been told about! Even if it was just a PB-

 

> **@v-nikiforov:** _You have a PB?!_
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _Ah, Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Or just led with it?_
> 
> _Yuuri’s right, I need to control my word-vomit._
> 
> _...I regret watching that film with Leo, but I’ve never related to it so much in my life._
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:** _PHICHIT CHULANONT._
> 
> **@phichit+chu:** _Okay, I’m sorry! Chill!_
> 
> _Seriously, we were already dorm mates, so it was hardly anything new when we’ve both been the drunken streakers at the freshers fayres!_

Drunken….? _What?_ Yuuri _streaked_ in college?

 

> **@phichit+chu:**   _I swear, Yuuri’s a prude, he would never get me off no matter how much I beg!_
> 
> **@v-nikiforov:**   _You_   _Beg? wait, that infers multiple begging occasions Phichit!_
> 
> **@phichit+chu:**   _Cut me some slack Vicchan, PB or MB, you know how heats are, you can’t tell the difference!_
> 
> _I bet you even there yourself at Yakov once or twice!_
> 
> _At least Yuuri looks better, and smells amazing off suppressants._
> 
> _And, duh, we lived together for five years. That's Twenty heats, and if my parents had let me take suppressants when I was 16, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm too old to start them now -__-_

Not Yakov ( _blegh_ ), but Viktor admits there’s a reason he and Georgi get along so well; it’s all down to the fact that Georgi prefers women, and had to drag Viktor back to his hotel room (despite all the anxious looks wondering if he was a kidnapper) that time in Vancouver.

Phichit does have a point, from what he remembers at any rate. Its been so long since his last heat thats he can’t remember for the most part what they are like, but he _does_ remember the complete inability to discern anything but scent and skin, the desperation.

Pack Bonds are for adding non-blood to the collective; it makes them immune to heats of the omega they share it with, so they can do exactly as phicit says, and help them remember the boring stuff only - heats can’t tell the difference though, so its up to the omega to designate any alpha or beta ‘ _caregivers_ ’ while lucid if they don't want a mate.

Mate Bonds amounted to the same thing, the only obvious difference being sex.

But still. Its one thing to know about it. He and Georgi never went so far as to give each other a pack bond (though Viktor knew his rinkmate would have done so if he had asked him), but clearly that was not so with Phichit and Yuuri.

 

 

> **@Phichit+chu:**   _Maybe this will help._
> 
> _In heat, he says I smell like octopus bait to him._
> 
> _Do you know what octopus bait is Vicchan?_
> 
> _It's rotten fish! If that wasn't the point of a PB, I'd be insulted!_
> 
> _But anyway. MY POINT, is, Trust me, Yuuri is as virgin as fresh snow._
> 
> _Not even my grabby claws of hormonal madness could tempt him, for which I am forever grateful._
> 
> _That would have been way to weird._
> 
> _Like kissing my brother._

“Oi, you can have on of these if you don’t rat me out to Yakov - cottage cheese and bilberry jam, you like that, right?” Yuri said, holding a bag out from the bakery on the other side of the street.

Viktor had never been so grateful for Yuri’s arrival in his life. By the time they get to the airport, he’s scoffed no less than 5 pirozkhi. Yuri watches, supposedly subtly, but either isn't sure what to say, or is too scared to ask, and Viktor says nothing about his sudden uneasy scent.

Yuri has his own family to worry about, and he's only just learning the joys of scent and hormones, voice breaking and inappropriate hair growth. The politics of Bonding is a bit too much to bother him with, really.

This is Viktor's worry. It not necessarily a bad thing. PBs are common, and honestly it explains a lot about how close Phichit and Yuuri are, but something about it bothers Viktor. It should be the secrecy, but its not that, because he knows by know that his mate is just too shy to bring up interesting information about himself.

Mainly because he doesn't think he's interesting enough to be a conversation topic. Really, the only reason Viktor knows Yuuri had a promising junior and early senior career is thanks to Chris, Phichit, Wikipedia and Figure Skating fan forums

What _bothers_ Viktor is the fact that Yuuri, in another sense of the word, has nested before. Maybe not intimately - thats plainly obvious from the blush on his face when Viktor showed him his nest earlier - but... it doesn't feel right. it worries him, that Yuuri has been exposed to such an intimate part of a younger omega's life.

Viktor knows he doesn't have to worry.

He knows he doesn't, but it settles in his mind with anticipation of their next FaceTime call.

* * *

  _Takkataen,_ ตั๊กแตน - _'Grasshopper'._ Thai Nickname. It was the first one I liked, but if anyone who actually speaks Thai knows a better one and want to call me out on my ~~bullshit~~ , please scream at me. Correct my bullshit.

As usual, all Russian has been translated by [@orangescarfblueglasses](https://orangescarfblueglasses.tumblr.com) on tumblr.

'Юрочка' - ' _Yurachka_ '

‘Заткнись, ты, проклятая птица! Ты портишь момент, Гоша, ты летающая пернатая крыса!’ - ‘ _Shut up you damn bird! You’re ruining the moment Gosha, you feathered flying rat!_ ’

‘Витя, перестань на неё орать! Ты знаешь, она это ненавидит!’ -‘ _Vitya, stop yelling at her! You know she hates it!_ ’

‘Нет, мама, мы просто ненавидим друг друга; Стоит мне открыть рот, как она начинает визжать! Разве нет, ты, глупый, сумасшедший, нарциссический стервтяник?’ - Viktor snapped to a corner of the room Yuuri couldn't see. ‘Клянусь, если ты не заткнёшься, я скормлю тебя Маккачину как только Юри приведёт её сюда! Я сделаю из тебя курицу барбекю, ты, пернатая заноза!’

‘ _No mother, we just hate each other; I only have to open my mouth and she starts screeching! Don’t you, you stupid, crazy, narcissistic vulture?_ ’ Viktor snapped to a corner of the room Yuuri couldn't see. ‘ _I swear if you don't shut up I’ll feed you to Makkachin as soon as Yuuri brings her here! I’ll turn you into barbecue chicken you feathery nesting meance!_ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when you try to melt chocolate in a microwave; I have experience. The resulting chemical compound honestly looks like an evil flubber or ooze-monster from Japanese post-nuclear and post-apocalyptic horror films.
> 
> NEVER MELT CHOCOLATE IN A MICROWAVE. YOU MIGHT BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, or end up like me and Yuuri, nauseated and with need of respiratory fumigators while your bestie just cakes away like its the funniest shit ever.


	5. Of Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri gets Bad News, Yakov has Patience, and Viktor has Stress.

Osaka, unlike Hasetsu, hadn’t changed very much in the years since Yuuri had been in Detroit. The flight was a short one, but the triplets were good at making it feel like longer, even if it wasn’t intentional.

They were excited about the trip, not having left Hasetsu before, and their enthusiasm was infectious. Yuuri wasn’t in Osaka for tourism though. They slept overnight in one of the hotels, and the next morning the heavy work began.

He had all his documents, and as Yuuko and Nishigori made their way to the castle with the triplets, Yuuri made his way to the Russian embassy.

It took a train line and a short bus ride, followed by a five-minute walk until he caught sight of a white and red, block like building with a flagpole at the gate; the three stripes made him smile. After speaking to the security guard, handing over his appointment letter, he was led inside.

Finally, his visa application was starting to get somewhere.

After a short wait, he was taken into an office by a Russian beta woman, who went through each of the documents in excruciating detail.

First the health checks, going over some more questions that were not on the initial form when he applied. Things like illnesses and past diseases. After that came the ISU certificates, degree certificates, birth certificate and other lesser files which were photocopied and kept.

The last part was his secondary-gender rating paperwork; he had the result of his blood tests, proving the assignment he’d been born with.

“I need to confirm you understand the different classes between Russia and Japan and different regulations between each subclass,” she said. “Have you read the documents you were provided with when you first applied for your visa?”

“Yes, my mate is Russian and we’ll be getting bonding once he comes off suppressants, so I’ll also be applying for additional citizenship. I was given some extra reading to go over about the process, and it detailed things quite well,” Yuuri nodded.

“Very good,” the woman — her name plate had Cyrillic and hiragana script, identifying her as ‘Анастасия - _Anastasia_ ’. “As you know Katsuki-san, Alpha subclasses are determined by hormone percentage strengths; you’ve regularly scored quite highly on Japanese rankings, and providing your application is successful,” she rolled her eyes, as if it would be anything but. “You will be required to take a series of Russian control classes, just to ensure you’re fully aware of Presentation legislation and regulations therein.”

Yuuri nodded.

The woman smiled. “I’m glad to hear that - I apologise for the trouble, please pass on our regards to Viktor,” she said, looking to her computer screen. “You’re both quite popular in Russia right now. You’re familiar with the regulations required for citizenship application for now?”

Yuuri nodded again He knew all this — the rules were more or less the same as Japanese Laws, but there was a slight difference in the way emergency use of compulsion was defined.

For one thing, there wasn’t a Compulsion Registry - instead, compulsion was monitored by the hospitals and police in Russia, and it seemed like there was more free rein. Mated pairs did not have to report its use beforehand, but it was highly advised so that the issue of Omega Abuse didn’t arise if it showed up during a hospital visit.

If it wasn’t, any alpha could still be called into question and various tests performed to determine if it had been ‘ _an abuse of pheromone control_ ’. There were obvious some circumstances which were extenuating, but the list was shorter than in Japan.

As for citizenship… well that wouldn’t be until after he and Viktor had bonded, and before that he had to actually get to Russia.

“How well do you speak Russian at the moment?” Anastasia asked. “If necessary I can place a note on your file for an English or Japanese speaking assessor.”

“I’ve been learning but…” Yuuri winced. “It’s not easy to find practice time during the skating season. I was planning on taking more lessons in the off-season after moving. I’ve listened to podcasts, downloaded apps, but Viktor and I still mostly use English,” he said honestly. “I can’t read Cyrillic at all.”

Anastasia nodded, then tapped a note down into the computer.

“That will be taken into consideration then,” she smiled. “Providing the application is successful, you’ll be classified under the +α spectrum, which equates to 2α here in Japan; there is also a mandatory check I have to conduct with the Japanese Compulsion Registry to ensure you have no previous record of unwarranted compulsion use,” she continued, turning from the screen to look him start in the eye; her face wasn’t unkind and he nodded, though he was a bit confused.

He hadn’t heard about this before, but it didn’t alarm him much. He knew his compulsion record was minimal, and the only instances on it were fully legal and both accidental.

One was an old woman who’d been about to walk out into a pile of traffic, and another had been when an alpha had been harassing his father not long after Yuuri had presented.

Toshiya had been more than handling the situation — he’d dealt with plenty of drunk alphas in the onsen before, and would continue to do so until he and Hiroko retired.

Teenage Yuuri’s recently presented alpha hindbrain, unfortunately, had _not_ handled the situation. That was when his parents found out he needed to take control classes.

“Around twenty years ago, an alpha from another country gained citizenship in Russia through a business visa, and ended up forcibly taking over a hundred mates,” the beta woman explained, seeing the perplexing expression on Yuuri’s face. “She was a dentist, and claimed unbonded omegas whilst they under anaesthetic during her dental surgeries, forcing silence using compulsion,” she explained, Yuuri’s eyes widening in horror.

“It was discovered eventually, but we now impose these checks as a precaution.”

“No, that’s completely understandable, of course,” Yuuri said, feeling sick at the very thought of someone doing something so horrible. “But if I might ask, how long will it take?”

“It can be anything between a week to a month; the selection of enquiry is randomly generated, and selections usually occur at a ratio of 1:1000, and that’s including other countries. Would you like me to proceed with the application?”

“Please,” Yuuri nodded. The beta woman smiled and clicked a few times with her mouse, flicking through the desktop applications. Then she stopped, peering at the screen, before her eyes widened.

“Ah…”

Yuuri hared at her, a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Don’t tell me…”

“…I’m afraid you’ve been selected for enquiry Katsuki-san.”

Yuuri pulled at his hair, letting out a whimper; _of course_ he had.

* * *

The rink was quiet in the afternoon when Viktor arrived for his training session with Yakov. Usually Yuri was finishing the last of his practice session, despite Yakov’s loud insistence that he rest, but he wasn’t due back from Moscow for another few hours at least.

In that sense Yuuri was the same as the Russian teenager — more than once, Viktor had to corral him off the ice in Hasetsu. Thoughts of his mate made him bite the inside of his cheek pensively as he pulled off his trainers in lieu of skates.

He still didn’t know what to do about what Phichit had told him.

It bothered him, a great deal. More than he was comfortable with. Surely if they were going to get married, then Viktor ought to be aware of his alpha's pack? Because that was what Phichit was — he was part of _Yuuri’s pack_. They might as well have been siblings for everything a Pack Bond stood for.

Why would Yuuri hide something like that?

Viktor scoffed at himself for the thought. No, that wasn’t right. Yuuri had always been honest with him when Viktor had asked him any questions, especially later in their relationship. If he asked Yuuri, he would likely give him a reasonable answer.

Viktor just hadn’t thought to talk to Phichit or ask more about Yuuri’s old roommate before — after all, Phichit had been a rival. A friendly one, pleasant, and obviously, he and Yuuri held no grudges over gold medals won between themselves. But he was still a rival.

Viktor had known Yuuri's former roommate was an omega, but had been more concerned with analysing his TCS and single quad than he had with wondering how the odd pair had worked together in Detroit.

He hadn't even consciously tried to get to know Phichit until after the GPF Banquet, when he’d had a little too much Vodka and the pair of them had gone a bit mad with the selfies and dancing.

Though he shouldn’t blame himself for it either… right?

Viktor continued to frown as he pulled the laces of his boots tight against his feet.

He really couldn’t stand the idea that Yuuri had deliberately hidden this from him, or was trying to hide something. He knew him better than that.

And yet a corner of Viktor's mind flickered his unease into his scent, (unwittingly drawing a flash of concern from his coach). Phichit was miles and miles away, further than Yuuri was, but he had a claim on _his_ mate.

It wasn't romantic in nature, but it quite easily could be. The only difference between Pack Bonds and Mating Bonds was sexual claiming — it was by no means uncommon for friends sharing Pack Bonds to later become mates. All they had to do was share skin, and the mark would alter in chemistry, the omega then permanently taking their partner's scent.

They were more common than mating Bonds now with most modern couples; it was easier to separate if things went badly with a Pack bond than a mating bond, and it would normally become a full bond during honeymoons and such nowadays. Few people took the dive into a mating bond straight away.

Viktor knew he shouldn't worry. Phichit had assured him, he knew Yuuri would be horrified by the idea when this eventually came up, but... he couldn't help but think.

He was old, and he didn't just mean in figure skating terms - Viktor was nearly 30, which was at the later end of the range when most omegas mated. Males like him didn’t get as many fertile years as their female counterparts either, so for his biological niche, Viktor was really pushing the boat leaving it so late.

Yakov never said it, but Viktor was sure that was why he'd been trying to get him off his suppressants at the beginning of last season, before he ran away to Japan, why he was so accommodating for Yuuri now (even if the old man still growled whenever he or someone else mentioned him).

Viktor was a lot like his mother, and had always wanted a family with whomever he chose to bond with; Yakov never mentioned it but he must have known success had not been without its prices, known his oldest student (if Viktor could even be called that anymore) was lonely.

If he and Yuuri were to have that, a pack of their own, then this would be probably be his last skating season. Well, the last full until they started trying for pups at any rate. He'd skate however long as necessary after this season until that happened.

Viktor didn't mind (he would have just as happily retired to coach Yuuri at the last GPF), but that knowledge was like a ticking-time bomb in his head now; he was old for a male omega, and though the recent doctor appointment had reassured his worries that his body might not even be capable of reproduction anymore (after years of training and suppressants), his hindbrain was _quailing_ and _fretting._

Phichit had a Pack Bond with Yuuri. Viktor was supposed to be Yuuri's intended mate, but it had never even come up in conversation. He was old, and knowing that the younger omega had a seemingly closer relationship to his fiancé than him, in a sense, was extremely unsettling.

Yuuri also had some significant nervousness still regarding their sexual activities. He was reluctant to let Viktor satisfy him; though there had been a few things, he was more concerned with satisfying Viktor, as though his own comfort meant little to him. The knot he'd presented the night before Viktor's flight was a clear example.

Viktor had experienced enough erections in his life to know that they could be painful, and a knot not calmed by whatever means was twice as bad outside of a heat or rut. Viktor knew that personally - it had happened during an encounter with a female omega, and as the only one with the correct genetailia, his own dormant one had come out of hibernation for a while. it had been awful, and Viktor was glad he'd never have to worry about it with Yuuri.

But Yuuri would rarely let him help with such things. Even though they'd both decided not to have full on sex until they could bond, there were plenty of ways Viktor could do that if only Yuuri would let him — he didn't know what it was, but his hindbrain was even more worried than it might have been with that problem also surfacing too.

What if that Pack bond was part of it? Yuuri might feel divided, and while Viktor had no doubt that Yuuri loved him, there was still that chemical pheromone that might get in the way.

Logically he knew that wasn't the case at all, but his instincts were having trouble recognising that. Groaning, Viktor hung his head into his hands after finishing the first skate and whined to himself.

' _There's no use most worrying,_ ' he sighed. ' _I need to talk to Yuuri about this directly but.. how?._ ' Was FaceTime really the best conversation base for this sort of subject? Maybe it would be better to wait until Yuuri arrived in Russia. At least then he'd be able to talk in person.

Viktor knew he was worrying over nothing but he couldn't help it. It was hardly fair to make Yuuri worry about him when he had his application to worry about, as well as training by himself-

 _No_. This was like the flight delay all over again. He couldn't just blot out the fact that this news bothered him. They had to talk about this. He'd bring it up tonight, and that would be the end of it. Confirming the decision in his mind for later, after the flat-

Ugh. _The flat viewing!_ How the hell was he going to bring this up when he and Yuuri were FaceTiming around the place with the estate agent hanging around? They'd hardly have any privacy for it, and he didn't know what Yuuri's schedule was like in Osaka today — was he still going back and forth to the embassy?

He'd confirmed that he'd have a couple hours to look through the phone screen at the property, but he couldn't bring this up if he had to head straight back to the embassy!

"...тя? Витя! _Vitya!_ "

Viktor blinked, looking up with a start to find Yakov standing in front of him with his arms crossed. He was irritated, but there was something else to his scowl that said it wasn't out of anger.

"Yakov?" He jumped. "What is it?"

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it, your scent is flooding the whole rink, and it's making the alphas all twittery,” Yakov sighed, pinching between his brows in the manner only a long-suffering man could.

His scent? But he was still on-

Oh. Viktor glanced around the rink and bit his lip. He’d forgotten how quickly his omegologist said the suppressant neutraliser would work. Yakov was right; his twitchy, uncomfortable _sad omega_ scent which - according to Yuuri at least - made alphas want to hug the omega in question and scent and growl at every possible upsetting thing - was everywhere.

“Sorry! I forgot it was coming through again!” He called out in an apology, getting a handle on himself and stopping the radiating fragrance. A few waved their hands — it was no problem, apology accepted etc, but Georgi and Mila kept flicking him glances as they started their figures (all Yakov’s skaters learned compulsory figures, required or not).

“I swear, between you and Yura, I’m going to be bald by the end of the month — is this a side effect of comping off your suppressants? Mood swings or something? I don’t want you skating in case you feel like bawling all of a sudden and fall,” Yakov said sitting down beside him.

“Ah, no, those shouldn’t come back until my first heat,” Viktor assured him; he shuddered. Half of that had been his problems when he was a teenager. He’d been a diva back then. Viktor wasn’t looking forward to it coming back, but he was hoping emotional maturity might curb some of the worst mood flips.

“Which will be when?”

“Probably at the end of this month, maybe the beginning of next. I’m hoping it'll settle and the second will be later, then we can bond properly without rushing training,” Viktor said.

“Fine, we’ll work around it when the time comes. What about your living residence?”

Viktor blinked, before he smiled - Yakov was blustery and never seemed to be the subtle type, but he had an indirect way of showing his affection when it came to ensuring the mental-well-being of his students that came from deep trust and his wealth of experience.

Honestly, Viktor should have asked him for advice at the Cup of China.

“I’m FaceTiming Yuuri at the viewing, but his reaction to the photos was promising, so I think we might have somewhere lined up. Mama wants to meet him first though, so we’ll probably be staying with her for a week or so at the least,” Viktor smiled.

“Then what the hell is bothering you Vitya?” The beta demanded, his calming, easy-going scent leaking out and neutralising his own frazzled one.

“It’s nothing-“

“It’s _not_ nothing, Vitya - you’re under a lot stress right now, but you never let things bother you this much unless it’s something serious. I know, because your scent doesn’t leak out like that. It didn’t even when you started your heats and started channeling that inner drama queen you've got,” he pointed out.

Viktor winced, remembering his teenage dramatics combining with the onset of puberty. Those had been horrible years, but once again, his coach was too observant of his habits. Really, he couldn’t hide anything from Yakov.

“Is it your Yuuri?”

Viktor twitched, and he knew his scent spiked for a moment by the frown on Yakov’s face.

“Of course it is,” Yakov grumbled. “Is he alright? Or just separation anxiety? Even if you aren’t bonded you can still feel it Vitya, you know that,” Yakov said, his voice softer and quieter.

Viktor knew that very well; separation sickness had been the cause of Yakov and Lilia’s divorce. It had been a very hard thing, unable to sustain their bond between Yakov’s coaching and Lilia’s classes in Moscow, the occasional shows the both had still performed in respectively.

It hadn’t been for lack of affection either; Viktor had been a member of the SCC long enough to know when the problems started, and see how much they tried to make it work out differently.

They’d been one of the first couples to marry without bonding in the Russian media (honestly, Yakov had probably turned his own coach grey for all the shit he used to pull) and it had been controversial then. But they’d tried to do it anyway, in hopes of fixing their relationship, but it just hadn’t taken.

He dreaded the thought of anything like it happening to him and Yuuri.

In spite of himself, Viktor ended up talking to the old beta, wondering if he was overreacting, if he was just being paranoid, if-

“Vitya,” Yakov said eventually, when his words began to spiral as much as his thoughts were, interrupting the verbal cyclone. “Just talk to him, you and I, we are alike. We say things and sometimes say too much without concern. I see Lilia in that Yuuri of yours. He is quiet, often assumes you know things, finds some things hard to talk about…” he said voice quiet. “If you do not learn how to communicate, you cannot talk; that was our issue. We never knew how to communicate. Talk to him.”

He put a calm, steady hand on Viktor’s shoulder.

“Take a few more minutes, if you want to skate, you skate. If not, go to the treadmills of the studio, go get some tea, read a book, just relax and think, Vitya; this won’t be a problem unless you let it be.”

And with that, he got up to go yell at Mila and Georgi (who were playing tag-on-skates instead of practicing) only to be cut off by a ringtone Viktor knew was designated to Yuri.

”Yuri, what’s happening? Has your plane- What do you mean, another week?!” he blustered. "you can't afford to stay that long in Moscow this close to- Sponsors? I have no idea-"

Viktor raised an eyebrow as Yakov disappeared towards his office, but it was momentary, and then he turned back to his skates.

After a moment of indecision, he decided his head was clear, and he pulled off his skate guards.

* * *

Yakov’s words, Viktor decided, were wise and worth the effort of listening to (Yakov could only bemoan that Viktor didn’t do it more often). By the time that he had arrived at the flat, a full hour ahead of the viewing time, he was prepared for the conversation.

After messaging to check Yuuri was available earlier than planned, he called; his first impression as Yuuri’s face pixels onto his screen was that he looked a little haggard. Stressed out, actually. It was eerily similar to the cup of China.

‘ _Привет! Как поживаешь?_ ’ Yuuri asked, and it took him a moment before he blinked.

"Неплохо" Viktor blinked, before realising which language he had been speaking in. . “Yuuri! You’re using Russian!”

Yuuri laughed, an infectious, musical sound. God, he missed hearing his voice beside him. Yakov was right, he was having separation anxiety

‘ _Well, they use it sometimes at the embassy, and I have an exam tomorrow so that they know how much help I’ll need at the control classes_ ,’ Yuuri laughed. ‘ _I don’t want them to think I’m completely incompetent. They gave me a book of basic phrases, half of which I’ll probably forget, but I figured I’d try to remember some of them. How did it sound?_ ’

Viktor smiled. “You definitely have an accent, but it was legible.”

‘ _I’ll take that for now._ ’

“It sounds like it went well then — do you know when all the paperwork will be processed? Yakov said the RSU were hoping they could work with the JSF and ISU to help fast track it,” Viktor said. “Apparently they’re really keen to have you train over here.”

Probably because Viktor was a flight risk when it came to public relations. The RSU had been pleading with him since his haywire Junior career to calm the hell down and show a positive influence to his fans instead. Clearly, they were hoping Yuuri was a positive influence — not in an ’ _I’m-a-mated-omega-now_ ’ kind of way, but an ‘ _I’ve-grown-out-of-getting-drunk-in-public-at-god-forsaken-hours_ ’ sort of way.

‘ _It’s…_ ’ Yuuri frowned, then sighed, pulling of his glasses and rubbing a hand over his face, then through his hair before putting them aside.

The action set of warning signals. Yuuri was blind as a bat without his glasses, and it was only when he was in a less than jovial mood that he removed them for anything besides bathing or sleeping. Or anything sexy.

‘… _It might be a bit longer than we expected. There’s this check they have to do because of some creep from America - Elena Paran?_ ’ Yuuri ventured.

“I’ve heard the name," Viktor nodded. "She was some kind of serial rapist years ago. My mother and Yakov freaked out because she worked at one of the practices close to our neighbourhood when it came out on TV — what that got to do with your application though?”

‘ _They do a random compulsion registry check sometimes, because she was an immigrant on a business visa. 1:100 chance of being picked and I guess fate didn’t want me getting too cocky,_ ’ Yuuri sighed. ‘ _I got picked for it. Anastasia-san, the embassy woman who’s processing the application, she said it might take anywhere between a week to two months for the check to finish._ ’

Viktor really wished he hadn’t decided to face time Yuuri in his car.

“That’s… seriously? No way!” He groaned, flopping back against the car seat, losing grip of his phone a bit as he whined. This was not happening. Nope. No. Just a bad dream. “I can’t believe this!”

‘ _I’m so sorry, I have terrible luck_ ,’ Yuuri groaned. ‘ _Are you mad?_ ’

“At you? No. At the Russian immigration controls? Yes, extremely. I’ll call Yakov later — he has friends there from when he used to coach foreign skaters, so he might be able to get them to push it through-”

‘ _You don’t have to do that!_ ’ Yuuri blurted, waving his hands. - Viktor had finally held up his phone screen again. ‘ _I don’t want to cause more of a bother than I am already! It’ll be fine! It sucks, but I’ll just have to bear it — you haven’t been for the anti-suppressant yet, right?_ ’

Anti-Suppressant. Viktor blinked, his brain processing what that would mean regarding a possible delay on Yuuri’s side of the Japanese sea. Then it clicked. ’ _Oh crap,_ ’ his brain supplied helpfully.

‘ _That silence means you have, doesn’t it?_ ’ Yuuri asked, his voice pained with the barest hint of anxiety now. ‘ _When is your heat due?_ ’

“This month or next, but… there’s no guarantee…” Viktor mumbled. “ _Черт Возьми!_ ” He swore — he wouldn’t be able to look his mother in the eye later but Yuri might have been impressed by the vehemence and foulness of his language.

‘ _Viktor, please don’t get mad, we’ll manage, I’ll talk to Anastasia-san tomorrow and see if she can do something!_ ’ Yuuri said, quickly, his voice placating and soothing — if the scent transmitter were on, the fake scent might be similarly toned, but he didn’t have enough battery for that _and_ the flat viewing.

“I’m not mad I’m just-“ Viktor pinched his forehead like Yakov had earlier. ‘ _Freaking out_ ’ he thought to himself. He couldn’t think about all of this right now, and it wasn’t fair to take his unease and frustration out on Yuuri either. “-I’m a bit… I just-” he was mad. Plain and simple, just not for the reasons Yuuri though he might be mad at him, but how could he even think about bringing up Phichit now?

 _'I know - we really could have done without this,'_ Yuuri sighed, proving yet again his mastery of phenomenal understatement. _'But we'll work it out, and with any luck it won't be as long as what Anastasia-san told me it would be,'_ Yuuri said, and Viktor managed to run a hand over his head, feeling a bit more hopeful.

"How about for now we just focus on finding somewhere to live?" Viktor suggested. "Are you sure the heat room is alright instead of another room?" He asked, hoping to distract himself with more pleasant thoughts.

 _’We don't need two spares, do we? And you said you would be more comfortable with a heat room from what you've told me,’_ Yuuri said with a smile. _’I’d rather that than an extra room.’_

The words made Viktor stomp down on a wave of guilt. Why on earth was he worrying about Phichit, of all people? Yuuri didn’t even have to say it - he knew his mate very much adored him. He said things like that, making it obvious without even noticing.

He was worrying for nothing.

“If you’re sure,” he replied. Looking in the wing mirror, he could see Ivan walking up the street, crisp business attire and briefcase making him stand out from the other pedestrians. “Ah, there’s Ivan. Let’s go get a better look, shall we?”

Yuuri rolled his eyes, but Viktor heard him gave a dry laugh as he got out of the car, beep of the lock echoing behind him. After a strange but friendly introduction to Yuuri on the video call, Viktor followed him into the apartment building.

The mechanical, but calm and easy conversation between the three of them as the estate agent led them up the stairs helped to put his mind at ease. With a focused goal - a home of their own, their own _den_ \- Viktor found the foundations of his worries further destabilising, disappearing, taking the toxic feeling with them.

It wasn’t perfect - he had no idea how they were going to manage this if Yuuri’s visa delay was extended (and that wasn’t including his concerns for Yuuri’s training), nor how he would cope with the upcoming heat alone.

He and Yuuri hadn’t planned on bonding during his first heat, but he’d been counting on having Yuuri close by. Even just that simple presence would be a reassurance, his scent to calm his body’s oestrogen-induced rage.

No, this was by no means perfect, but it was a start.

* * *

'Витя'  — ' _Vitya_ ', a short form of Viktor.

‘Привет! Как поживаешь?’ - ‘ _Hi! How are you?_ ’  
‘Неплохо’ - ‘ _not bad_ ’  
'Черт Возьми!’ - ‘ _Fucking Hell!_ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri’s development at the embassy is inspired by a similar check which occurs during death registry in the UK to ensure there are no suspicious circumstances. It happened when my mother and I when we went to our local council office to get my grandfather’s death certificate. The clerk hit the send button and her face kind of froze.
> 
> She’d just said it probably wouldn’t come up, so sods bloody law, of course it did. Until we were phoned to say the enquiry was over, we couldn’t plan the funeral because we didn’t have a certificate yet, and it was a pain in the arse very unhelpful delay. Thankfully it was only a week.
> 
> It was imposed because of a serial killer apprehended in 1998 who probably killed over 250 people through his medical practice, and is one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. Anyone interested should google Harold Shipman, cause I don't know how to link to his wikipedia page.


	6. Technically Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor prepares, and Yuuri helps, 4,500 miles be damned. Yuri seeks out a friend.

The apartment viewing went well; it was large and spacious, with a modern finish both Viktor and Yuuri liked. Neither were the type to choose left clutter, but not could see some personal flora she's and changes.

Yuuri for one had bluntly stated that there was no way he would be able to sleep with lights that looked like a hundred monster eyes hanging from the ceiling (' _one would be fine, but not that many - I'd have nightmares about shirime haunting us every night!'_ ).

Viktor hadn’t had a chance to google ‘ _shirime_ ’, but he did think the lights were excessive, and he didn't like the white bareness of the room; while he had liked the modern look when he lived by himself, he'd grown fond of the character of Yu-topia Katsuki, and the blandness didn't appeal to him anymore.

He had wandered around with his phone, showing more things to Yuuri, the main bathroom (which both agreed needed a shower rather than just a bath), the kitchen (Yuuri liked the blackboard backing to the cooking stations decorated with blini and borscht recipes in chalk pen Cyrillic cursive), then the heat room and spare room.

The spare room was built onto a hallway just beyond the main ' _entrance_ ' to the living space. Ivan had explained that another smaller apartment had been bought to enlarge the current one, explaining the strange layout.

Where there had once just been a hallway leading to the entrance from the main building, there was a corridor with another good sized room beyond.

Coming into the flat, the heat room with its en-suite wet room was just to the right of the entrance, left of the small blue display sofa. It had a good scent filtering system and all the usual additional services - nest material storage, a chilled water unit, a small fridge, and microwave built into the wall (even with a kitchen, some omegas just couldn't tolerate even minor separation from their mates during heats, so modern homes tended to provide such fittings)

A sunken nesting frame was the best part, and was probably what sold Viktor completely; it was as wide as the room, with two small steps up to the frame, dropping onto the mattress. The frame was even better; rather than the simpler wooden frame at home, the nest space had been formed by full walls that rose just above hip height.

From the ceiling, a thick gauze curtain could also be pulled down. Yuuri had laughed at the expression on his face, seeing Viktor’s attempt to keep from purring while Ivan was loitering in the kitchen.

They made an offer, giving the estate agent a limit for haggling with. He was hopeful that soon the pair would have their first home together. What Yuuri didn't have though, was a Visa allowing him to live in it.

A week had passed since his trip to Osaka with the Nishigori family, and the only confirmation he’d been given was an email to say the check was in full progress and he would be contacted with the results within three more weeks

It was less than ideal, but there was nothing he could do about it. So, he did the only thing he could think of to occupy himself; he skated.

He’d picked out his exhibition music - one he’d shared with Viktor, who’d fawned for several minutes over it and his absolutely adorable alpha - ‘ _Really, Yuuri! That’s so romantic! Our first meeting! It’s perfect!_ ’ he’d gushed.

He practiced the exhibition piece over face time and Skype with Viktor, and once or twice Yakov watched when Viktor called him from the rink. Though there were no rules to say Viktor couldn’t coach him and compete, the FFKKR had insisted someone more senior represent them, so Yakov was technically his main coach, and needed to see them too.

He was a gruff man, and Yuuri got the impression that while he’d earned his skating approval, the beta had yet to decide if he was good enough for his best skater as a partner - Yuuri knew that Yakov had been part of Viktor’s life for a long time, and that despite his bluster, was extremely fond of his protégé.

Yakov never said anything unpleasant, he simply watched, offering some critique and criticism on his skating whenever he and Viktor watched on the computer screens in Russia.

Yuuri liked him. He was firm, like Minako, good at pushing his skaters like Celestino, and a task master like Viktor; Yuuri already knew he’d enjoy training in Russia, and was looking forward to eventually meeting Viktor's rink mates.

After the delay became more obvious, Viktor had wandered around with the laptop, introducing him to everyone properly. Georgi seemed polite, and a bit brighter than in the last Grand Prix. (Apparently he was seeing a woman he’d met through Mila).

Yakov’s female student was constantly chattering, eager, and friendly - almost like Yuuko, but with a teasing and mischievous side not uncommon in eighteen-year-olds. Mila frequently dived in on Viktor’s calls and waved from the background. Yuuri could see himself getting along well with her too.

The only one missing was - oddly - was Yuri. Yuuri didn’t think about it until Yuuko got the phone call though.

He’d been practicing his free skate at the rink when she came out of the office, jabbering away in English, which raise his eyebrows in curiosity; there were only a few people who she needed to speak English with after all.

“….afraid I can’t help you much. I’m sorry, but trust me, he’s better to help you with this,” she was saying, waving him over.

“What is it?” He asked.

Yuuko just mouthed ' _Yurio_ ' and handed him her phone. Holding onto the barrier, Yuuri took a quick gulp from his water bottle, then put it to his ear.

“Yuri?” He asked, still not quite convinced he was really phoning.

‘ _Who else Katsudon?_ ’ The familiar voice said, snorting. ‘ _Look, you know I don’t… something came up and Yuuko said you might be able to…’_ Yuri’s tone was flustered, reluctant, but persistent.

“I'll help if I can,” Yuuri promised, keeping his voice clear of any affection that came from being asked - it was a show of the trust Yuri held between them if he was willing to ask for help in something.

Yuri let out a long, irritated breath. ‘ _One of my sponsors pulled out and… there are things at home I need to pay for, but I can’t work out what I’m going to have left. The company is paying off the rest of the sponsorship deal, but once it runs out I’m not sure… Yuuko said you did stuff like that at University so…_ ’

“I did,” Yuuri nodded. “Business management, Finances and Accounting, that sort of thing. Mostly to help at home. Let me guess - you’re a bit stuck budgeting for your rink fees and the other things - is that it?”

He'd been lucky that a basic grasp of computers and spreadsheet programmes like numbers and Microsoft Excel had taught him how to manage money. It certainly helped that his parents weren't very computer literate. He and Mari had taken over the office stuff by the time they reached 12 and 19.

‘Да _, can you do it? I know there's a load of crap going on with your visa, so it’s fine if you can’t._ ’ he said. ' _How much would you need for it?_ '

“I'm not taking your money Yuri," Yuuri said, pointedly using the Russian boy's full name. "And as far as being distracting goes, applying for a Visa means I’m doing a lot of hanging around waiting," Yuuri chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have a look at everything for you, but you’ll have to be transparent ok? I won’t reveal anything you tell me, but I will need to know what your expenses are,” he warned. “Numbers at least - you don’t need to tell me what they are if it makes you uncomfortable though. Is that okay?”

' _Sure, better you than some asshole I need to pay a shit-ton for the same anyway_ ' Yuri said quickly - then he broke off, muttering something soft and affectionate in Russian. 'Я знаю, дай мне пару минут, Наташа, я раскрашу после с тобой. _Sorry Katsudon, I can email the stuff now if it’s okay?'_

"I might not be able to reply until later, but you can send it," Yuuri said, nodding despite himself.

' _No, that's okay, whenever is easiest for-_ '

"Юра! Юра! Я хочу раскрасить динозавров!” A small, childish female voice blurted suddenly, cutting off the conversation.

"Я могу раскрасить их с тобой, Юрочке нужно сейчас поговорить с другом, Наташа." a gruff, kind voice Yuuri recognised said in the distance - Viktor had said Yuri was in Moscow, so it must be his grandfather.

"Нет! Юра обещал!"

"Наталья, делай то, что сказал дедушка. Юру занят!" Another voice - female - snapped with clear signs of lost patience.

"Нет! Я хочу Юра! Он давно уже не раскрашивал со мной!"

"Всё в порядке, Лена, я почти закончил," Yuri grumbled. ' _Sorry. This is... I… I appreciate it. You helping with this._ '

Yuuri smiled, but he couldn’t help but notice the tense edge to Yuri’s voice. He was probably stressed beyond belief; he didn’t know much about the teen’s private life, but he couldn't imagine how he'd cope if one of his sponsorship deals went under.

Without them, he might be able to cope with his parents help, but skating was expensive. Even if his parents were moderately well off (despite the failings of previous onsen in Hasetsu) Yuuri wouldn't want to put that financial burden on them.

"Юра! Юра, Юра! Пожалуйста! Ты сказал! Ты обещал!"

Yuuri snapped something, a sigh of frustration already falling from his lips as his voice came back to the phone. ' _I need to go but thank you - I'll make this up to you_.'

"Don't worry about it, go talk to your family. That was your grandfather's voice earlier, right?" Yuuri remembered meeting him at the Grand Prix Exhibition Gala. "Go, he'll want to spend time with you. I'll message you later after I've looked through everything."

' _Alright, later Katsudon,_ ' Yuri grumbled, though not with hostility.

Yuuri bid his own goodbyes, ending the call and meeting Yuuko's anxious eyes. "Is he alright?" She asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your practice but he sounded pretty desperate and you're better than me at that maths stuff," she apologised.

"Just stressed maybe? I think I'd be worried if my sponsor pulled out on me though, so I can't blame him and it's fine Yuuko," he smiled. "Don't forget, Nishigori showed me your spreadsheets last year."

Yuuri made a face. "I should have listened to my parents and taken a business class in high school," she grumbled, pouting a little.

Yuuri laughed and as reminiscence joined his practice, he momentarily put the thought of Yuri's request from his mind - he still had a quad to work on, and he also had a courier to contact.

After the realisation that Viktor would likely be going through his heat before Yuuri could get permission to enter the country, he’d been thinking, and had finally come up with something which would help.

He hadn’t told Viktor, but with any luck the gesture would be taken well; with those thoughts, he turned back to the ice.

It would be his last chance to practice for a week due to some more paperwork which he had to take to the main embassy in Tokyo of all places, and he could only hope this time he would have more luck.

* * *

The omegologist Viktor used was a private one. The specialist owned a small practice on the opposite side of town from his childhood home. His mother had helped him register when he presented early, anticipating the growing celebrity her son’s talent was likely to garner.

It was slightly more expensive than regular hospitals, and not exactly local, but Viktor had always appreciated the extra effort and privacy it provided as he got older. The old man also catered to several athletes, icebound or otherwise, so was used to dealing with patients with strict guidelines and schedules.

It was an airy building, but with a comforting, discreet presence, which was perfect for what Viktor needed. After checking in with the receptionist, he found a corner and a seat, casting his thoughts over the events of the past week.

After the horrible revelation that it might likely be another two months before Yuuri would be able to fly from Japan, he cast his worried from his mind about the flat viewing, and training. Unfortunately, now that he was faced with his heat approaching, they were coming back with increasing severity.

It wasn’t that Viktor wanted Yuuri to nest with him this time around. They had talked about that; Yuuri wasn’t ready, and neither was he. Viktor needed to get used to his own hormones again, and that means he needed to let his body experience at least one heat without a partner. _'I want you to be comfortable whatever you want,'_ Yuuri had said, when Viktor let had broached the subject in Hasetsu.

Despite that, he had been hoping that even if Yuuri didn't share his nest in a physical aspect this time round, that he'd be there to help in other ways.

‘ _Like he did with Phichit,_ ’ he frowned to himself, unable to help the sting of jealousy that came from the thought. He knew he needed to talk to Yuuri about it. He knew that delaying the conversation was only going to make it harder, but right now it was hardly at the top of his list.

He had a heat to prepare for, and he was not looking forward to it. He’d never rejected his sexual genders, had always been comfortable with being a male omega, but he wouldn’t deny it was a pain sometimes, and the suppressants had been more than a relief in terms of avoid the biological chore.

“Viktor Yúlievich?”

He’d have to check the scent extraction system on his room was still working, stock up on blankets, and god forbid, try and find his long-forgotten nesting instinct, else he’d be a traumatic mess by the time his heat arrived.

It wouldn’t kill him not to nest, but he’d be extremely jittery and in a foul mood for the whole thing, and probably be even more of a dramatic when the cramps and menstruation came a few days later than he used to be.

“Viktor Yúlievich Kovalenko?”

More than that though, he knew he would be unsettled without Yuuri’s scent close by. The times when his heat had come and gone under suppressants in Hasetsu, he’d been clingier than usual. Later, he’d been content and settled when Yuuri - flushing furiously - scented him for the first time during one.

After that, it had been a common practice after the Cup of China, and Viktor already felt unsettled without it. Even if his heat had only been a subtle feeling with the suppressants, Yurio had settled that, and being without it wouldn't be good. He’d been unsettled mere hours after separation on the flight from Japan without his mate.

He was going to need Yuuri’s scent. He’d want to nest with it, he was so used to it that it was already equivalent to home and safety - what all nests should be. Not having it inn his nest when his heat came would be uncomfortable, especially with the knowledge that his mate had already formed a small pack n making his hindbrain anxious.

“Viktor Nikiforov?”

Viktor blinked, realising someone was talking to him; there was a starry-eyed child staring at him, a few surprised adults, and his doctor, who was watching the dawning comprehension with an amused smile. Chastising himself for letting his mind wander, Viktor hurried to his feet.

“Sorry Dr. Lekov,” He apologised. “I forgot what my own name was for a moment there, it's been a while since anyone used it," he laughed, following the older omega further down the hallway to one of the consultation rooms.

Today, besides arranging a prescription for some more medication, was a physical check-up and another blood test. It was all required after coming of full suppressants.

“It’s alright Viktor, you had your head in the clouds - you'll been busy getting ready for your competitions right now, is that correct? I know they start soon, but you missed Nationals, yes?” he smiled; he'd always kept up with Viktor's competitions (he had been a patient at the clinic for a long time after all, and Lekov was a skating fan).

Yakov had been the one to introduce him and his mother to the clinic, and it had been Yakov's recommendation that he take on a pseudonym during competitions if he wanted to keep some of his life private.

His grandfather’s name had been chosen, and most people just assumed he had been named directly for the man. It had probably saved him a lot of unwanted attention, and Viktor was honestly very glad he'd chosen to listen that day.

"I'm preparing for Europeans now, and Yuuri is aiming at Four Continents, but well both be practicing for Worlds," he nodded, following him into the examination room.

First, he took some blood and did a few things to perform the necessary tests - blood work following long term suppressant use was always completed immediately, he explained. The they ran through several checks - breathing, pulse, blood pressure.

Dr. Lekov also asked him about his joints, checked the muscle on an old injury in his calf from his first world championship (he'd tanked his quad flip completely), and some more checks under endurance (a running machine) to make sure the levels remained healthy whilst under exertion.

For an athlete coming off suppressants, this was even more important than usual - his hormones needed to balance or it could affect his skating, his endurance, everything.

Taking some more blood for comparison, Dr. Lekov pottered with those too, just in time to collect the results from the first test. They had been going through things for about an hour now (longer than regular appointments, but after suppressant care was serious, and Viktor wasn't a standard omega - he also paid through the nose for better medical treatment.

"Well, so far things look good Viktor," the doctor said, looking over the results he'd printed off. "Your circulatory and lymphatic systems seem to have processed the last of the suppressants you've been taking, and nothing looks abnormal," he smiled. "You've been off them just over a week now, and normally we'd expect them to be flushed within 3-4 days, so that works out very well."

"My leg, joints?" Viktor asked. "Please don't say I've started developing arthritis yet," he added hopefully - a genuine concern when the effects of competitive skating on the body were acknowledged. Yakov had terrible arthritis in his knees, hips, ankles; his back had started acting up last year too, and he was still in his sixties.It had started in his thirties.

The doctor chuckled. "Everything's fine, you're not that old yet, when your hairline is as thin as mine, then I will tell you to worry," he smiled, running a hand over the shiny patch of skin on his head. "Tell me about this upcoming heat Viktor, it's your first in a long time, so ask anything you need to."

"I just want it to be bearable," Viktor said. "When I was a teenager they were getting quite severe when I started suppressants, and the aftermath was never good either. Some days the cramps were so bad I couldn't skate - I can't afford that now, so I was hoping I'd be able to get a prescription for something stronger than cocodamol - I’ve used it in the past and it's never been strong enough."

The old man nodded, checking over his patient history file in the computer. "Yes, we were going to switch you on diclofenac before you decided to try suppressants, so I'll prescribe a dose for you, but I would prefer you try something less strong firsts before resorting to it if need arises - you don't know how your body will deal with this now that you're older," he advised.

Viktor nodded, it only made sense. "What about my heat itself? I've spoken to some old rink mates who came of suppressants when they retired and most of them said they were stronger, lasted longer..." he said. "I guess I just need to know how likely it is that I'll need to factor them into my training time."

"Very likely, if I'm honest, I've worked with quite a few athletes that work on ice, as you know. I won't lie, I can count on one hand how many chose to continue competing off suppressants Viktor, yourself included," Lekov said bluntly - Viktor nodded.

"That bad?" He winced.

"I wouldn't say bad, though it depends on the person and we won't know for certain until after your heat has passed how to expect things to go," Lekov said. "I will tell you to expect a longer heat, and to expect all breeding urges to be stronger - your body will be bouncing back, and as far as things go, you're perfectly healthy, probably more so than a lot of my normal patients, and you have a prospective mate too," he reasoned. "That's more than enough for your body to go into overtime as far as reproduction is concerned."

"So, when the time comes, I won't have any extra problems conceiving because of my age?" Viktor asked - he'd already been told it was fine, but it _niggled_ at him. He blamed the Phichit news.

"I won't promise anything, but a lot of people who've suppressed find its easier after coming off them," the doctor nodded. "Again, because your hormones are in overdrive. Suppressants don’t really damage or neutralise heat hormones, they just ‘ _freeze_ ’ the glands at non-heat production levels. Once that’s removed, everything goes back to normal, and since most people start young in athletic careers, the endocrine system is much more potent than you’d think because it’s not aged the same, but rather been in stasis. I'm assuming you be needing birth control for now though?"

"Please," Viktor nodded. "I think I've got at least one or two more seasons left in me before I start worrying about my biological clock." He paused. "I was also going to ask if you could prescribe me some semis."

Semis were semi-suppressants, different from normal suppressants in only one thing; how long they regulated the glands associated with testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone, and stopped them from producing the amount needed for heats or rut. They couldn't be taken for long periods of time, and were mostly used to prevent heats or ruts falling on undesirable dates, like meetings, visits from family, or in Viktor's case competitions.

"We’ll go with an update on your old prescription," Dr. Lekov nodded. "I would like you to try and have a heat each month at first though Viktor, then we can see about a long term semi-suppressant to regulate them into the normal bi or tri-monthly routines. I want to be sure everything's working as normal; just because you're healthy doesn’t mean you might not have side effects, and most won’t show up until after you’ve been through a heat," he added, a gentle but warning tone in his voice.

Viktor winced - he'd been afraid the man would say that, but had been hopeful he might get away with a bi-monthly heat schedule. He knew better than ignore the doctor though. "I suppose you leave me no other choice," he sighed.

"Ah! You've learned to listen more," the doctor beamed in jest. "I also don't want to flood you with too much medication after so long on suppressants. There are a lot of pills on this list, but unless you have to, if rather you didn't take them, and please bear in mind what I said earlier about the diclofenac and cocodamol."

Viktor laughed, nodding along with him, then they spent some more time talking over the return of less forgiving instincts such as nesting, the savage breeding instinct that came within waves of heat, the protective surges around Pack members.

They also talked about other alphas, mainly Yuuri but technically Victor was still unbonded, so the normal rules about being careful in public still applied.

"I'm not too worried though," the doctor said. "You’ve got clear indications of pre-bonding, so even with a long-distance relationship, your sense of smell and your own scent will likely be too selective to attract much attention. I'd recommend you be aware of it though, just to be safe."

Then they moved on to bonding. Viktor didn't have many questions about that though; he'd had a few temporary marks over the years, small ones from previous heat partners, to have a basic idea of how a full one worked but he agreed to book an appointment with Yuuri once he had arrived.

Then they moved into less risky, or even less risqué, and more boring things. These were things like time estimates for when his heat would start based on the blood tests.

Or the general increased strength in his scent that would develop, and the old omega gave him a few handouts on controlling it, along with a phone number for classes at the clinic (' _It's perfectly normal after suppressing to have trouble controlling your scent, so don't be embarrassed if you do!_ ' He added as Viktor scowled like a teenager presenting all over again at the thought).

All said and done, his second appointment went well, and everything was tracked, if not planned entirely. He had everything he needed for his heat, though he'd probably have to stop off and pick up some things from one of the specialist supermarkets when everything started to kick in.

Lekov had done an estimation that he might even start his pre-heat preparations by the end of the week.

Honestly there really wasn't much left to do but wait. After paying the receptionist for the extended appointment, he headed out into the car park, stuffing his ream of prescriptions into his pocket.

It had been a long day, and he was looking forward to getting back home to talk to Yuuri. It didn’t take long to get there, and there was a surprise waiting when he did.

Opening the door, the first thing that hit him was the smell. It was familiar and so utterly different and foreign in his childhood home, but so welcome that he couldn’t help the whine that came from his throat as he closed the door behind him, eyes searching for the source of it.

Yuuri. He could smell his mate. But how? He knew Yuuri couldn’t be here yet - he didn’t have a visa. He was in Tokyo for more paperwork! So how?

His nose took him upstairs, to his bedroom. There on the floor, was a small pile of boxes, with a scent-proof packaging. A letter was attached to one of them, and he recognised Yuuri’s shaky Cyrillic straight away. It had taken him a week to memorise the address, but he’d done it.

> Viktor,
> 
> I feel awful not being able to see you or do anything to help right now. The problems with my visa have set everything back, and when you told me you’d already come off your suppressants I guess I got worried.
> 
> I scented everything in the boxes, in case you wanted anything for your nest. I looked things up online for helping with long distance for omegas, and a lot of people said it helps.
> 
> Obviously, if it’s too presumptuous of me, feel free to throw everything out! Really, I mean it! I want you to be comfortable so please don’t use any of this if you don’t want to - I know it’s a big jump and I’m assuming things.
> 
> I won’t be offended at all if you don’t want my scent in your nest, but I thought I’d send some stuff just in case. Hopefully I’ll be able to see you in person soon. I miss you.
> 
> love, Yuuri.

Viktor stared at the letter, then the boxes, tearing into one of them and yanking out one of the hoodies contained within, flopping back on his bed with the fabric stuffed under his nose, inhaling the gentle, calming scent he loved so much.

* * *

 

‘Я знаю, дай мне пару минут, Наташа, я раскрашу после с тобой!’ - “I know, give me two more minutes Natasha, then I'll colour with you”

‘Юра, Юра! Я хочу раскрасить динозавров!’ - “Yura, Yura! I wanna colour in the dinosaurs!”

‘Я могу раскрасить их с тобой, Юрочке нужно сейчас поговорить с другом, Наташа.’ - "I can colour them with you, Yurochka needs to talk to his friend right now Natasha,"

‘Нет! Юра обещал!’ - "No! Yura promised!"

‘Наталья, делай то, что сказал дедушка. Юру занят!’ - “Nataliya, do what grandfather says! Yuri is busy!”

‘Нет! Я хочу Юра! Он давно уже не раскрашивал со мной!’ - “No! I want Yura! He hasn't coloured with me in forever!”

‘Всё в порядке, Лена, я почти закончил.’ - “It's okay Lena, I'm nearly done,”

‘Юра! Юра, Юра! Пожалуйста! Ты сказал! Ты обещал!’ - “Yura, Yura, Yura! Please! You said! You promised!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shout once again to @Orangescarfblueglasses for her kind translations. I had to give Viktor a break this chapter. This was supposed to be a mostly Yuuri chapter but he's being an elusive katsudon and hiding ARGH. So a little fluff, besides Yuri's little emergency.
> 
> I have updated the chapter count but watch this space. I'm not sure if its a good guess. If anyone has any questions about how I handle dynamics in this ABO, feel free to hmu @Ncj700 on Tumblr and Twitter. I generally reply quicker there because I procrastinate and have zero sleep ability.
> 
> As usual, this is unbetad.


	7. SNS: Sociable & Unsociable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Yuri have contrasting experiences with BuzzFeed and Instagram. Mama Nikiforov is a oasis of reason to Viktor's frazzled brain.

After one sniff of the clothes Yuuri had sent him, Viktor found his forgotten ability to nest; the first thing he did after some generally rolling around on the messy pile on his bed to try and pick up some of his mate’s scent was place everything in very specific order all around the frame, cushioning the sides, lining the covers.

This was a habit that had continued for three days after practice, much to his mother’s eternal amusement, but unfortunately, he had less important but necessary things to do, like find a place to live, train, perfect his nest, and apparently pick Yuri up from the airport at the end of the week because Yakov and Lilia were out of the country scouting a new junior who wanted to train at SCC.

‘ _If you’re serious about coaching, it will be good practice to work with junior skaters. We can try it out with you as a junior coach for a year or so before you decide if you want to actually coach,_ ’ he’d said.

When Viktor insisted that he’d coached Yuuri with 100% professionalism (Well, not counting the Cup of China), Yakov snorted. _Snorted_. The lack of faith made his heart hurt.

He still had to talk to his fiancé about the platonic bond with Phichit, but the more Viktor thought about it, the less likely it was to happen, so for the next week he threw himself into training.

He also tore up all the Thai take-out menus and stuffed the shredded flyers into the bottom of Gosha’s cage for the damned bird to defecate on in a moment of hindbrain driven madness when Phichit uploaded a backdated, sinful photo of Yuuri mid-programme from his 4CC gold performance before that fateful Grand Prix in Sochi with #pack and #ThrowbackThursday #SpotThe Katsudon #FourContinents2013, and #Can’tWaitForSeoul2015 #4CC.

Seoul. Four Continents. He’d completely forgotten that Yuuri would be competing against Phichit there. It was only a month after Europeans, so if the Visa didn’t come through, that would be the first time Viktor would see him.

Viktor had never had time for church but maybe it wants too late to start. If he went down and begged at the priest, maybe Yuuri would get visa approval before then. If so, Viktor might sign himself up for the ecclesiastical profession.

Anything to get Yuuri to Russia before four continents. Just the thought of Phichit reuniting with _his_ mate made his hindbrain _snarl_. But there was hope.

Yuuri had got back from Tokyo, and apparently, the trip had been successful. Of sorts. He hadn’t really had much time to explain before he had to jump on another plan to Osaka again, looking travel frazzled and exhausted, but excited, hopeful.

‘ _I don’t know what they did, but I’ve got another meeting, and a photoshoot for Figure Skating Life for one of my sponsors so I might not be able to get onto FaceTime for about a week. I’ve called a rink in Osaka I’ve used before so I’ll still be practicing, but I just wanted to warn you,_ ’ had been Yuuri’s hurried call as she ran around his hotel room in Tokyo, stuffing thing into his case.

Viktor hadn’t dared hold him up. If a week without FaceTime was going to help possibly hasten Yuuri’s chances of getting into Russia, then Viktor wouldn’t slow him down. Yuuri promised to text or call when he got the chance.

Viktor passed his week with his exhibition skate. It had been coming together well, but Viktor was no longer happy with it. Yakov would be furious when he got back to find Viktor had changed it from Stravinsky to British pop music (bless that new rule on music choices).

It was hardly the first time Viktor had changed his programme on a whim. Doing after being absent for a year a month before Europeans was a new level of brazen though, even for Viktor, but he was feeling rather impulsive.

It was during this practice that he got a different but not unwelcome call from Ivan; the flat was theirs.

Viktor didn’t even feel ashamed when he let out a whoop of delight the echoed around the rink; finally, things seemed to be looking up. His mother was equally pleased, and Viktor didn’t waste any time. The seller was just as eager, and within a few days, he’d signed the contract.

He’d phoned Yuuri and they both agreed it was easier to simply let Viktor sign the ownership papers for now; for one thing he could read them, and Yuuri could be added later if necessary.

“Oh, this is wonderful Viten’ka,” Ykaterina smiled after Ivan dropped off the keys and property documents with an ‘ _It's all yours!_ ’ flourish. “You said you wanted to fix some things though, didn’t you? Will you stay until those are done?” She asked, taking the jam set out of the fridge as he steeped their tea at the kitchen table.

He’d finished training for another day and was starting to feel a bit… he wasn’t sure what, but he wasn’t keen on leaving home. Viktor suspected his heat was creeping up on him if the urge gather all the kitchen towels and squirrel them away in his cupboard was anything to go by.

Her voice was clipped and short around the strange English syllables. She had improved since Viktor introduced Yuuri to her from Japan over FaceTime, but wanted to be better, converse with her future son-in-law. With Yuuri learning Russian, and Viktor considering a Japanese course, he was hopeful that the language barriers wouldn’t be a problem for long.

Ykaterina had insisted that Viktor talk to her in English, so that was what he was doing. It made him smile, and he was glad that his mother was so eager to welcome Yuuri into her life that she would go to all this effort. He certainly knew Бабушка never would have, stubborn woman.

“I’ll wait until Yuuri gets here before we do anything like painting, or pick out some furniture, but neither of us like the weird light clusters or the lack of shower, so I'll probably hire someone to fix those bits since we have the time. Not till after my heat though.”

He couldn't help a short whine, thinking about the weeks of investigation on Yuuri's visa application still to come. He still hadn’t heard anything from Osaka - Yuuri just said they were in-depth interviews - but no news was good news, right? He wanted to hope that Yuuri might get here before his heat started, but he knew that was impossible.

His mother chuckled, taking her mug and spooning a little of the apricot jam into the dark liquid. "It'll pass before you know sweetheart," she paused to drink. "Yulenka and I had this problem once, but it did us good."

"Mama Yúliya?" Viktor asked, dousing his own with bilberry and muting the strength with milk. "When?" He barely remembered his mother’s first mate. She died when he was too young to know any different, and growing up Vasíly had been more a role model to him.

He was curious though - she was one of his parents after all. His sire, former leader of their small, mish-mash pack, and Viktor had been told numerous times that he was very much like her. But besides that, he didn't hear many stories about Yúliya Kovalenko - it was hard for his mother to talk about her.

They had known each other since they were children, back when matings were still arranged. Apparently neither had been fond of their future mate when they were children, and the arrangement made between Viktor’s grandparents.

He didn’t know when that had changed, but he did know that even though his mother had found companionship and new love in his step-father, she had _never_ forgotten her first mate. With the prospect of a story he hadn’t heard before, the curiosity was shining eagerly in his eyes.

“It was when you were a toddler, you'd just figured out how to nest and you refused to go to bed unless you had something with both our scents. You were extremely diligent for a three-year-old, and changed it every day,” his mother smiled shaking her head. "I was working for a buffet company then, and my manager took on a job cooking for a training camp. I was gone for three months, and we didn't have clever phones to transmit scents."

"Wasn't that difficult? Yuuri and I haven't bonded yet, and I could hardly stand his scent fading, before he sent me his things. If that was after I was born, it must have been intolerable! How did you cope?” he frowned.

"We scent marked letters too, phoned, but mostly we sent each other scraps of fabric. I took a pillowcase with me and slept with it. Then, I'd cut it up into strips and send it with the letter, and Yúliya did the same, she even put one in your cot-nest,” his mother smiled, chuckling again. "Though eventually I had to send you that stuffed poodle you drag to all your competitions. You got unsettled by the sudden scent changes."

That... was a clever idea. Though Viktor was amazed that their scent had lasted so long. Yuuri had the benefit of scent-preserving packaging - the joys of the modern era.

“The talking was the best thing - not being able to see each other forced us to be more honest, and while we didn't have any problems, it was still worthwhile," his mother added, fixing a pointed look at him, speaking in Russian again.

"Mамочка?" He blinked, caught off guard by the look.

"You haven't been yourself for a while darling, and Yasha phoned."

Of course he did. Yakov _always_ phoned his mother to keep her in the loop. Not that he minded, but it had been so long since he had been back home that he'd forgotten how well the pair kept tabs on him. Viktor sighed leaning his face in one hand and taking a gulp of his tea.

"I..." he sighed. "I know it's nothing, but I found out Yuuri gave his best friend a Pack bond," he explained. "I never cared much about Phichit till after the final, so never even asked, and it wasn't really a secret. You can see it on some of his Instagram posts, though I guess now I know why Phichit always uses the pack hashtag, but I thought that was just him being affectionate’” he mumbled. “I can understand that maybe Yuuri thought I already knew but..."

"But it bothers you because _you_ don't have a mark, you're thousands of miles from each other and you still don’t know how long it will be till you see each other again," his mother guessed. “You’re also worried about his skating progress, and I'll bet your hormones aren't helping."

"I tore up all the Thai take away menus and stuffed them in Gosha's cage yesterday," Viktor muttered petulantly. "Ah, Phichit is from Thailand,” he added for clarification.

"And it didn't make you feel better?" His mother smirked; Viktor whined.

"Maмa,” Viktor groaned. “I _know_ it was childish but it was either that or… I don’t know…” he sighed - the doctor had warned him, but the heightened hormone levels from the lack of suppressants was getting to him already. "It's silly. It shouldn't _bother_ me so much-“

“Nothing is silly or to be trifled if it bothers you sweetheart. Have you spoken to Yuuri about it?”

“I don’t know how to bring something like this up on FaceTime,” he grumbled. “And Yuuri already has his visa application to worry about. He’s not heard anything since he went to Tokyo, and now he’s back in Osaka. How can I talk about this too?”

He took another gulp of his tea.

“What does Yasha say?” Ykaterina asked calmly.

“He says we need to learn how to communicate,” Viktor said dryly.

“I think he’s right - you’re too busy worrying about how Yuuri will react to things like this to realise that not talking about them will only make it worse,” his mother said.

“But-“

“I know, you’re worried about him, and that’s not a bad thing. But I’m sure he’s gone through trying situations before Viktor,” she continued voice firm. “Yuuri’s a nice man, and I can tell he adores you. I can tell he makes you smile, and that makes me very happy, but making each other happy isn’t all there is to a relationship.”

Viktor sighed, leaning back in the rickety table chair that had been his spot since he first got out of his high chair. “It sounds so _stupid_ though... I’m a grown man, and now I feel like a teenager all over again. I should be able to talk to my fiancé.”

“And you have said stupid things before, yes?” His mother teased - Viktor gave her a pained look. “Витенька, you need to stop doing this. I know you have trouble with relationships, but you love him yes?”

Viktor winced, remembering his actual teenage years. His mother didn’t know the half of it. Or maybe she did.

“I do, incessantly,” Viktor smiled - he couldn’t help it. It was the truth after all. “And vice versa, did you listen to his exhibition piece music?” He couldn’t help the warm purr that came over thinking about it; it was perfect.

He had no idea how it would work into Yuuri’s theme for the season though; his fiancé was being stubborn about keeping it secret. Viktor wasn’t sure if that would work for much longer though. It had been a nice idea when they were only expecting a short separation period, but things had changed.

He really needed to see Yuuri’s programs with full context. He also needed to see them in person, but that was another problem entirely.

“Then tell him. Yakov is right - you need to learn how communicate, and I think this will help you. I know its new - you’ve been skating so long there wasn’t much time - but I promise it’s worth it.”

When Viktor ventured back upstairs to work on his nest, those words followed him.

* * *

The paperwork Yuri had sent through wasn’t very complex.

After his day at the foreign rink, Yuuri took several moments to work his way through the files - documents regarding sponsorship deals, and a list of expenses that seemed alarmingly long.

Yuri had taken the time to detail each one, stating what it was for, and how important it was. Medical bills, school fees, Yuri’s own tutoring fees, as well as separate fees for a disability school, two household bills, the rent for Yuri’s own apartment, a set amount of funds titled ‘training expenses’ put aside each month, rink fees, Lilia and Yakov’s coaching fees.

There were a few lists of pluses, government subsidies, and a couple of smaller sponsorship deals, but the lack of the main one was not at all promising.

After seeing a message to check that Skype was possible, Yuuri sent a call through to his Russian counterpart.

‘ _Hey Katsudon, I thought you were still in Tokyo? Viktor’s been moping all week. For god’s sake phone him and have internet sex or whatever the hell you guys do on face time,_ ’ Yuri grumbled; Yuuri flushed red.

“We’ve never used face time for cybersex,” he promised. “And I am, but I finally had time to go over the files you sent me, and it’s easier to talk about this way.”

Yuri watched him through the other screen before going to check his door was closed, shouting something in Russian down the hall before closing and locking it again behind him to be on the safe side. ‘ _I’m guessing this isn’t going to be good?_ ’ He asked, returning to the computer.

“No,” Yuuri sighed. “Even if you cut out one of the household bills, you still wouldn’t be covered by the subsidies and minor sponsorship deals - they’re better than what I got as a junior, but not by much since you’re still under 18,” he said.

‘ _What about my tutoring?_ ’

“Yurio, you can’t cut out-“

‘ _What if I cut out my tutoring?_ ’ Yuri persisted, a hand scratching his head violently; Yuuri could see the tiredness on him even through a computer screen filter. His skin was sallow, like he’d been up awake at night a lot, and he had that appearance of general wiriness harassed adults usually wore when they drank their sorrows at the inn.

“It’ll hardly make a dent,” Yuuri said softly. “You need a new sponsor Yuri. There’s no getting around it. The amount of expenses you’re handling, it’s just too much without one. If you were still living with Yakov and Lilia, you might manage, it would half what you pay in household expenses, but you’d have to be very careful.”

‘ _I knew it…_ ’ Yuri groaned, pulling a blanket from off his bed around his shoulders. ‘ _Thanks for checking all the same. I was pretty sure, but this helps_.’

“Yuri, if you need any help, you know you can ask for it, don’t you?” Yuuri asked, concerned. “Viktor will listen if you need anything too. You really don’t look good.”

‘ _I’m fine katsudon, it’s just a bug, either that or fucking growing pains,_ ’ Yuri grumbled with none of his usual snarl; he sounded too tired for it, in all honesty. ‘Thanks for looking this over, but worry less about me and more about your stupid mate, I swear, if he scents me when I get back to Piter tonight, I’ll get Pyotya to scratch your shins.’

“Viktor’s been scenting you?” Yuuri couldn’t help putting a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. “That’s hilariously adorable, but I’m sure it’ll pass. It’s probably just because he’s off his suppressants now. If its making you uncomfortable-“

‘It’s not going to kill me, it’s just damned annoying! He did it in the middle of the airport! I think one of my angels got a photo!’ Yuri snarled, sounding bit more like his usual self. ‘Hurry up and get over here dumbass, I can’t take his pining anymore! Even Georgi came out of his new-girlfriend cloud for five minutes to comment commented on it! He misses you - it’s weird not seeing you two clinging to each other like leeches!’

Yuuri smiled. ‘ _I miss him too Yuri,_ ’ he said, knowing they weren’t really talking about Viktor now, but the words unfailingly true nonetheless. ‘ _Keep an eye out for me when you get back, won’t you?_ ’ He asked. - Yuri didn’t like being coddled, and was keen to help even if he didn’t admit it. Hopefully the request would keep him close to Viktor, who could keep his own eyes on Yuri without making him feel babied. ‘ _His heat is coming up and not being there worries me_.’

“Yeah, I’ll keep him out of trouble,” Yuri sighed. “Just hurry up and get here already.”

“That’s the plan, hopefully. But humorous me and have a nap or something after this call? You look like you could use it.”

Yuri grunted, a ‘ _mrrow!_ ’ Coming from the rag doll that jumped up onto his lap infant of the camera. “Fine,” he agreed as his cat began to paw and knead in preparation for a nap of her own with her human. “Thanks again Katsudon. I’ll make this up to you.”

“Just take care of yourself Okay? That’ll be enough payback for me,” Yuuri told him. They bid farewells, but it didn’t settle him in the slightest.

Yuuri had half mind to ask Viktor if he knew anything in detail, but it wasn’t his business. He knew Yuri had family commitments, and that they relied on him, but if Viktor knew more it wasn’t his place to ask or suggest things.

Still, Yuri hadn’t looked well, and it worried him. He might not be able to help directly, but he did hash out a message to Viktor. It was the best he could do from so far away, and he could only hope that if further problems arose, Yuri would be comfortable enough to turn to him or Viktor if he needed to

* * *

By the time Viktor was done with his nest, he had been ensconced in his bedroom for several hours, and his resulting nest was much more impressive than the last attempt. He still hadn’t chimed in on Chris’s #nestoff challenge, so he would warn Yuuri again the next time they spoke, but he would have to wait till later; Yuuri would be in the middle of training right now.

Instead, he spent some time going over the latest videos of Yuuri’s training from Yuuko, settled in the nest with a bag of self-indulgent paprika crisps and a flask of tea.

Now that he had access to Yuuri’s scent again, he was going to damn well burrows himself in it. Who knew how long it would last? Of course the relaxed atmosphere led to distraction after a while - there was only so much he could do with videos.

He needed to see Yuuri in person. His training was going to fall behind if they put it off any longer. He could ask Yakov if he knew any skaters in Japan who could be a temporary fill in - Yuuri’s old coach maybe - but was loathe to ask for something like that without a time frame to work off.

So, instead, he trawled through photos on Instagram and Facebook, scouring them. There were some from Yuri’s Instagram that drew attention - plates of pirozkhi mainly, but there is one picture that stands out.

It was taken by a stranger, at a children’s play park. In the picture, Yuri is dejectedly sitting on the end of a slide with Mariya held close. Yelena appears to be photobombing it with a ‘ _V_ ’ sign and her usual enthusiasm - equal to Yuri’s but with less acerbic tone.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the scowl on Yuri’s face, he’d have trouble telling them apart. Yelena’s hair and face shape is practically identical to her brother’s for a reason. They even have the same fashion sense - his rinkimate’s twin is even wearing a cat-ear head band.

Nikolai is also there, with little Sofíya holding his hand tight some distance away. She’s staring with confusion, still a bit young to know what's going on but happy with her pack all the same.

> **@yuri-plisetsky**
> 
> [Image Uploaded]
> 
> Last day in _#Moscow_ , and I get dragged out with the bratty sisters. Save me. @yelena+p @otabek-altin @PABartezzz @sukeota3sisters @babe-mila @PoPovich+26 @v-nikiforov
> 
> 17,093 Likes.
> 
>  
> 
> **Yuri+angels10:** Aw, Beautiful pack photo! You and your sisters are adorable as always! _#original-yuris-angels #packgoals #Yuri Plisetsky #Yelena Plisetsky #yuri’s angels_
> 
> **yelena+p:** How dare you call the original angels bratty! No pirozhki for you!
> 
> **yuri-plisetsky:** Withholding food? Now you’re just making my point for me.
> 
> **PoPovich+26:** Cheeky, show some respect to your elders Yuri!
> 
> **yuri-plisetsky @PoPovich+26:** Two minutes’ difference in a uterus does not make her my elder Georgi.
> 
> **babe-mila:** omg, your angels were quicker to post on this than Lena? That’s dedication. Also, if Lilia saw this, she’d wash your mouth out with soap. And technically it does.
> 
> **yelena+p @ babe-Mila:** Thank you Mila!
> 
> **babe-mila @yelena+p:**  I’ve got your back Lena!
> 
> **@yuri-plisetski:** I’m blocking you all.
> 
>  
> 
> **_+4,375 comments_**.

It was later followed by another with the grudging hashtag; in this picture Yuri is holding up a scribbled creature and the comment _#dinosaurs_. Mariya is beaming proudly, and the image make Viktor smile again.

It wasn’t often Yuri got the chance to go home, and while he never mentioned it, Viktor was sure he missed the Plisetsky pack. It made him think about his own though, and that sent his thoughts spiralling.

 _Pack_. No matter how much Viktor tried to avoid thinking about it, his thoughts always returned to the revelation from Phichit, and he pushed further into his collection of pillows and the stuffed foodstuffs (Yuuri’s gifts from his fans).

He didn’t really feel mad, not in the sense he did a few weeks ago. More confused. How did this affect his relationship with Phichit? Surely Yuuri hadn’t offered to give his best friend a platonic bond without knowing the technicalities.

He didn’t know how the law worked in Thailand or Japan, but in Russian law, an alpha who gave an omega a PB was just as responsible and obligated to their interests as parents to their pups. They usually lived together - was Yuuri going to want to live with Phichit at some point? Was _Phichit_ expecting that?

Viktor didn’t like the sound of that. Not that he disliked Phichit, he wished he’s got to know him sooner. His woeful tales of trying to seduce Seung-Gil Lee were both heartfelt and hilarious, and he knew that Yuuri had a good relationship with Chris already. Wasn’t it normal to get to know his mate’s best friend?

He should have done it sooner, but he hadn’t had the luxury of sharing junior years with Phichit like Yuuri and Chris. He just hadn’t been expecting this! By all accounts, Viktor had an extra member of his pack, and not being told about it before hand was unsettling.

He got even more nervous when the worry drove him to extremes, and he started googling ‘ _my bondmate didn’t tell me about a PB with a friend and I’m concerned about it_ ’. Looking things up on the internet was never wise, but this was even worse. There are few BuzzFeed articles enough about keeping Platonic Bonds platonic that they don’t go into another page, yet over 5 of them on how to turn them into Mating Bonds.

It certainly doesn’t help matters when Viktor finds the ‘ _Top 25 PB-Bonded Pairs in Sports_ ’ article, and finds the source of his concern right there. In black and white.

> **07 - Phichit Chulanont (Ω) & Katsuki Yuuri (?) ≈ Men’s Figure Skating**
> 
> _The first figure skating dynamic on our list! Phichit and Yuuri are close friends and former rink mates who have shared a PB for 4 years now, with Chulanont affectionately tagging their photos on his well-known Instagram with #pack._
> 
> _Meeting during Katsuki’s last year in the junior skating circuit, he and Chulanont became rink and roommates in Detroit, where both were coached under Celestino Caldini. Both have been open about their relationship in media appearances, and are well known for their close relationship amongst skating fans._
> 
> _According to public statements, they chose to share a Pack Bond after Chulanont presented in Detroit, and was unable to take heat suppressants._
> 
> _This concerned his family in Thailand, and could have been a step back on his competitive career, until he approached Katsuki about a Pack Bond. Unlike many pairs on the list, they share a full bond documented for American Visas, as well and Japanese and Thai Pack Registries._
> 
> _Many of their fans speculated whether they would take the last few steps to Mating until last year, when Katsuki publicly announced his relationship with skating coach Viktor Nikiforov (click for our_ Top 5 Public Declarations of Love _) but speculation still abounds due to the unknown dynamics of Nikiforov and Katsuki, both of whom have preferred to keep their secondary dynamics private._
> 
> _Many fans speculate that either a 3WB is in the works, or a mating fight is on the horizon._

It took Viktor a moment to process the slang for 3-Way-Bond, but he choked at the idea. ‘ _Sorry Phichit, no way in hell_ ’. He knew several polyamorous packs, but that just wasn’t his thing.

The article was the same as everything on the internet. Speculation. Uncertain words forced into a block that sounded certain and cohesive. Viktor knew that, but it just made him feel even more uncertain.

Why hadn’t he know about this? He understood that he would have missed it from a media perspective - Yuuri and Phichit were both younger skaters, and Viktor made It a point to only memorise his rivals’ stats, quads, and PCS point average.

What he didn’t understand was that if this was something which was registered, why he didn’t know? Was Yuuri hiding it from him? If BuzzFeed were making articles about it, and it was even registered as part of his American visa paperwork, why hadn’t Viktor known about this when the application for his Russian one started?

Well, it wasn’t like Viktor would even have been able to read the paperwork for the embassy in the first place since it was in Japanese, not English or Russian. The only things that need translation to Russian were the letter of invitation, and confirmation from the FFKKR and RSU that Yuuri would be coaching under himself and Yakov.

This was only getting worse the more he thought about it, and he knew that he couldn’t put off talking about it any longer, but he just didn’t know how to bring it up.

Rolling to one side, he pushed away his laptop and phone (as if he was in the mood for #nest-off now), and buried his nose in one of the plush sushi rolls saturated with Yuuri’s scent.

The familiar fragrance was five times better than scent sharing over phone ever was, and Viktor inhaled deeply, calming his frazzled min. His hindbrain quailed that his own scent wasn’t mixed in, but seemed to settle with the knowledge that this was a gift from the alpha, a courting gift. Something scented could hardly be anything less than intimate, and it made him feel like preening.

He wondered whether Yuuri had sat and brushed all the stuffed goods and clothing against his wrists or neck, or whether it was the _other_ kind of scenting. Probably not. Yuuri was never that bold. Though Viktor would be lying if said he hadn’t wondered about it a few times.

Maybe he should just phone Yuuri and get it over with. It was the logical thing to do, and stressing over it wasn’t going to make things any easier. Picking up his phone, Viktor flicked quickly into his contacts, holding his thumb over the call button beneath Yuuri’s name.

It wasn’t even hard to do, and wasn’t that late in Japan. Yuuri would definitely pick up if he called. He always did.

In his indecision, his hand slipped. Jerked out of the daze, he slammed it back on the end call button about five times before finally hitting it, and stuffed the phone under his pillow where he couldn’t touch the stupid thing.

Taking a breath, he stared at his pillow, anxiously, before he felt the buzz of the machine beneath it. Gingerly taking the phone back, he resigned himself to the incoming call, and answered it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't beta this its 3:29am imma check it when I sleep like normal humans instead of mimicking vampires.


	8. Phonecall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation is held, and Yuri gets back from Moscow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING; THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SMUT, DIRTY TALK AND MATURE CONTENT. If anyone is uncomfortable with reading this, please skip down to the line break at any time.
> 
>  
> 
> Also I HAVE NEVER WRITEN SEX IN THIS FORM BEFORE, SO THIS WAS PROBABLY A BAD IDEA BUT LET’S ROLL WITH IT ANYWAY. _Taking a breath he stared at his pillow, anxiously, before he felt the buzz of the machine beneath it. Gingerly taking the phone back, he resigned himself to the incoming call, and answered it._

_Taking a breath he stared at his pillow, anxiously, before he felt the buzz of the machine beneath it. Gingerly taking the phone back, he resigned himself to the incoming call, and answered it.‘Viktor!’ Yuuri’s voice crackled out over the speaker - he was panting a little, caught at practice no doubt._

“Sorry Yuuri did I interrupt practice?” He asked, unable to help smiling. “Are you still in Tokyo?”

‘ _No, I'm back at the hotel for the night. I'll be stuck here for another few days, then I head home. You don’t often phone - is everything okay?’_ Yuuri asked., trying to catch his breath. ‘ _Did you hear from Ivan?_ ’

Ivan? Oh, of course, the flat. He still hadn’t told Yuuri yet. Viktor had been so consumed by his ridiculous jealousy and insecurity that he had forgotten to tell his mate they had a home of their own now.

“Your wonderful fiancé finalised the sale yesterday,” he said. “We officially have a home to return to, once my mother has fussed over you and nagged us about grandchildren for a week. She's very anxious to meet you," he couldn't help smiling.

‘ _Really? We got it? Viktor that’s fantastic! When did it go through?_ ’ Yuuri said excitedly; Viktor close his eyes picturing his face brightening. ' _I can't wait to meet her either, she seems so nice._ '

“Ivan dropped the keys off earlier today,” Viktor said. “Are you busy right now?”

‘ _Um,_ ’ Yuuri voice a little, and there was some fumbling in the background. ‘ _I’m free, is everything… okay?_ ’

“Yes, I just wanted to make sure I have your permission to go wild against the lights and the bathroom now that we have the apartment officially,” Viktor said, basking in the scent from his nest and the sound of Yuuri’s voice.

It wasn’t as good as the real thing though; nothing was, even if he was relaxing more with Yuuri’s real scent instead of the synthetic one generated by technology. He missed his mate; he missed the physical feel of his hair and skin, his bodyweight, that hovering presence beside him as he walked, the sound of his skates on the ice.

He missed his mate. It had been almost two months since he’d felt his warmth, since he’d clung to the scent on his scarf through the gate at Kyushu-Saga International Airport. Two months since he’s seen Yuuri, Makkachin, his in-laws.

Looking around at his haphazard piles, he bit back a sigh; it was no wonder he couldn’t make a nest. He didn’t feel at home without Yuuri here.

‘ _Of course, I don’t mind,_ ’ Yuuri said, drawing his ear back to their conversation. ‘ _That was what we decided wasn’t it?_ ’ He asked, his voice still sounding off.

It rang somewhat familiar to Viktor but he couldn’t quite place where. Had it been so long since he heard his fiancé’s voice in person that he couldn’t pick out its subtleties anymore?

“I just wanted to check. How are things in Tokyo?” Viktor asked, wondering if he should admit what was on his mind.

If both Yakov and his mother were telling him to man up and just talk about his worries, he probably ought to listen. But was this really a conversation for a phone? Logically, he knew there was an explanation, and that if he waited to talk to Yuuri in person, he would get one with the utmost truth.

he trusted Yuuri, immeasurably so compared to past relationship attempts. He knew that his alpha would explain it, and then. His stupid omega hindbrain would _calm down_ and stop insisting he growl at the Thai news articles he’d been stalking about Phichit.

But not knowing was killing him, and he could hardly say it was fair to make this the first big topic when Yuri finally arrived but… he had no idea when that would be.

‘ _Good, my sponsors are happy,_ ’ Yuuri said quietly, his voice still somewhat restrained. ‘ _I have my appointment at the Tokyo embassy tomorrow. One of the officials from the JSF is coming with me - they really want me to train there.’_

“They must know I’m good for you then,” Viktor teased. The snappy comeback expected however was placed by a very desperate whine, and a gasp. “…Yuuri,” Viktor blinked, his voice slow and curious. “What exactly _are_ you doing right now?”

Yuuri let out a choked noise at the end of the phone. ‘ _I… uh…_ ’ his scent, coming through the phone system was tense and thick, tinged with something familiar.

“Yuuri,” Viktor put a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. “Were you-”

‘ _Please don't say it! I'm sorry! I’d just stopped, but then I heard your voice when I answered and all of a sudden-_ ’ He groaned. ‘ _Oh god… I swear I’m not jacking off! Not without asking, it just won’t go away so I tried to ignore it…_ ’ after that Yuuri fell out of English into a babble of Japanese that Viktor had no hope of following.

He did however recognise some of the English, and his jaw dropped. Yuuri was…

“-Yuuri,” he said cutting off the panicking Japanese stream. “Is… this why you didn’t want to come onto face time this week?”

That wasn’t what Viktor had planned on asking. He’d been intending to ask if his mate had been masturbating to the sound of his voice. He was uneasy all of a sudden, and the thoughtless words popped out.

‘ _What? No! Of course not! I had to get a pod hotel last minute, and I forgot to pay for the Wi-Fi during the booking. The only room I could get doesn’t have it as standard,_ ’ Yuuri said quickly, his words a little calmer. ‘ _I’d rather talk to you Viktor, than…_ ’

Viktor sighed; he was confused now. After all the reluctance regarding intimacy at first (on his own part at least), this was the last thing Viktor had been expecting from his mate. But he was relieved. He didn’t know why, but he was relieved.

' _I'm so sorry, I swear, this isn't what it looks like!_ '

Viktor blinked, feeling a growl building. "Yuuri," he said slowly, unable to stop the questions bolting around his brain. "Why are you apologising?" He asked. "You sound like you've been caught doing something you shouldn't be. I'm surprised, but I've thought about you like this too."

Not too often, because then he just missed his mate more but even the lack of gentle kissing was enough to frustrate Viktor.

' _But... I am aren't I?'_ Yuuri asked. He whined anxiously, setting off alarm bells in Viktor's head. ' _You aren't mad?_ '

"Why would I be mad?" Viktor blinked. "You're my mate, my fiancé Yuuri. You are allowed certain intimacies like this." He said rolling his eyes before pausing. "Yuuri, why do your own needs for intimacy upset you so much?" He asked gently.

Viktor could hear Yuuri fidgeting, trying to find the words to answer. ‘ _It’s just… it’s not… I can’t just come out and…_ ’ he slipped into strained Japanese again.

“Yuuri, English!” Viktor whined.

‘ _Ah, sorry_ ,’ Yuuri mumbled. ‘ _It’s just…. I really_ don’t _know how to explain it. It’s a Japanese thing, I guess?’ He tried. ‘It’s like_ Тоска _, I guess. It doesn’t have an English phrase, I mean,_ ’ he stressed. ‘ _It’s-_ ’ Yuuri used a Japanese word as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Viktor could sense his distress, and he was beginning to see the problem.

“Yuuri, it’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to explain it straight away I just… I thought maybe you weren’t comfortable with me, or… I don’t know… I was worried. Since you always stopped me form reciprocating whenever we were intimate before.”

‘ _You… thought I wasn’t interested?_ ’ Yuuri asked. ‘ _But we’ve… Loads of times! Right before your flight too!_ ’

“I know,” Viktor sighed. “I thought maybe you were uncomfortable since you’d never had a relationship before, but well, we have been intimate,” he reasoned. “Is it a bonding thing? It’s not some notion of chastity, is it? Because that went out of the window a long time ago, and I’m not at all sorry.”

Yuuri gave a nervous laugh. ‘ _I promise it’s not,_ ’ he said shakily. ‘ _But I guess it is a bonding thing._ ’

The word is Viktor’s chance; he knew he could interject, bring up Phichit - did Yuuri feel guilty? Maybe he was deliberately hiding the pack bond he and his friend shared - but…

‘ _Why didn’t you tell me you and Phichit have a Pack Bond Yuuri?_ ’

The question hovered on his tongue frozen by fear and doubt. But also trust. He felt like Yuuri was opening up to him.

Viktor still didn’t know how, but he was sure he was. He just had to figure out the concept Yuuri didn’t know how to explain later. For now though, knowing that his mate _did_ want him, found him physically pleasing enough to think about him erotically was a reassurance he’d needed.

“Ha-Have you thought about that?” Viktor asked, unsure if Yuuri would pick up on what he was trying to do. He has no idea how this was going to work, but he wanted to try. Asking out loud was strangely embarrassing though.

Yuuri sucked in a breath, very slowly. ‘ _Nnn,_ ’ he said, or rather just agreed. ‘ _A few times…_ ’

“What do you think about exactly?” Viktor persisted, nervously, excitedly. Was this how it worked? It always sounded more sensual in books, right now he just felt a little ridiculous.

‘ _Your voice,_ ’ Yuuri said, so quick and instantaneous that it took Viktor aback for a moment. ‘How desperate your sounds get,’ he added. ‘ _The expression you make when…_ ’ he cut off, and Viktor could picture the bright red blushing onto Yuuri’s cheeks, up into his ears. ‘ _When you’re turned on._ ’

Viktor hummed in approval, his mind zoning out as he thought about the night before his flight. “When you take control?” He asked. “I love it when you do that Yuuri,” he murmured, feeling heated just thinking about it. “I love it when you feel so confident. It’s so sexy…” he sighed. “I wish you were here Yuuri.”

There was a muffled noise on Yuuri’s half of the phone line, and his breath was heavy. Viktor could almost imagine what it would feel like pressed up against his neck, hovering over his scent gland, the promise of permanence in it.

‘ _Are you in your nest?_ ’ Yuuri asked after a moment, his tone a little sharper, voice that tad richer, deeper. Viktor nodded, then gave a short confirmation, anticipation crawling in his throat. ‘ _Is my scent still there? It should be - I don’t want you to think about another alpha but me when your heat arrives._ ’ He said.

Viktor purred, burying his nose in one of the pillows. “Your scent is everywhere Yuuri, its strong. I couldn’t dream of it,” he sighed. “I just wish it was the real thing.”

‘ _I want to be there Viktor, so much, but since I can’t, we should practice, so you’re prepared_ ,’ his mate said carefully; Viktor’s breath hitched, and he felt himself straitening to stiffen in the work-out joggers he was still wearing from practice.

“What did you have in mind? What would you do to me Yuuri?” Viktor asked in a rush, hand slipping beneath his boxers. “Tell me, I’m half-hard just wondering, tell me _Детка_. Would you wreck me, like you did before I left Hasetsu?”

‘ _That’s just where I’d start_ ,’ his mate said hoarsely, voice thick with want.

Viktor took a breath. “Tell me,” he pleaded., closing his eyes as his hand wrapped around his cock. “Please Yuuri, I want to picture it when my heat comes, when I want you so much I can’t think…”

‘ _I’d kiss you,_ ’ Yuuri said without hesitation. ‘ _I love kissing you, and I love the way you moan into my mouth sometimes, later, but first I'd kiss you. On the lips, closed kisses, soft, then firmer._ ’

Viktor let his hand move over himself, imagining the sensation Yuuri described, remembering how gentle Yuuri's kisses could be, the soft press of his lips on his skin, even when lust made him ravenous. Their firm warmth as they delved into his skin, down his neck.

‘ _I’d kiss your lips your neck, nip at those beautiful glands on your neck,_ ’ Yuuri added, drawing a deep sigh from him. ‘ _Not completely, but I will, one day._ ’

Viktor whined, the phantom promises teasing over his skin. He could feel the thrums of arousal in his belly completely, and the warmth that spread through his neck, chest, his groin, the aching flutter _inside him_. “Yuuri, don’t just kiss me,” he pleaded. “You’ll touch me too, won’t you?”

‘ _I will,_ ’ Yuuri promised - Viktor couldn’t help keening at the word change, the insinuation that this wasn’t a fantasy, but that Yuuri would do everything he promised. ‘ _I’ll hold you, run my fingers down your arms your chest, then I’ll stroke you off, like you’re doing to yourself right now,_ ’

A choke burst from Viktor’s lips, his fingers brushing over the head of his cock as he absorbed his mate’s words, imagined everything Yuuri promised. He could feel it, the firm grip, the strength that came from years of training. The grip, the simple presence of another body next to him. Was Yuuri holding him down in raw instinct, slumped beside him, for gentle stimulation? Or was Viktor above him?

“Yuuri,” he gasped into the phone, continuing the slow, deliberate jerks of his hand; his entire body felt heated and fine-tuned to his mate’s words distance be damned. “What else? Please, tell me more.”

‘ _I’d watch you, I love your expressions Viktor, I love how open they are, how expressive, how you throw yourself into pleasure,_ ’ Yuuri said; Viktor could feel his eyes on him, like Yuuri was right there. That it was his grip that pumped gently and deliberately on his arousal, his eyes focused on Viktor’s face as he lost himself.

‘ _Tell me what you’re doing Viktor,’_ Yuuri continued. ‘ _Are you touching yourself, getting yourself off imagining what I’m going to do to you?_ ’

“Yes…” Viktor moaned. “I’m using my hand but” a breath pushed from his lungs with an unsatisfying wave of arousal. “-it’s not _enough_ Yuuri, I need more…” he gasped, whimpering slightly as he felt an encroaching dampness starting.

‘ _If you were getting desperate, you’d start getting slick - are you desperate?_ ’

“Yes,” Viktor whined. A thick, pleased growl came through the line, and it went straight down Viktor’s throat into his belly. “Yuuri, please, I need you…” he pleaded; half lost to the idea that his mate was right there with him. He could smell his scent in the nest, so it wasn’t hard to pretend.

‘ _Stretch yourself out for me babe,_ ’ Yuuri coaxed, his own voice breathless and choppy. ‘ _Can you do that for me?_ ’

“Y-Yes,” Viktor gasped. Anything.

Removing his hand from his dick, he reached behind his back, trouser quickly yanked down his legs before coating his fingers in the slick that had started dripping down his thighs. Moaning at the sensation, he pushed two fingers past his entrance, switching them back and forth to do as asked.

‘ _How does that feel Viktor?_ ’ His mates voice asked as Viktor stumbled for the loudspeaker with his free hand. The phone slipped from his fingers onto the blankets as he worked his hand. ‘ _Do you think you can keep from touching yourself?_ ’

Viktor whimpered, shaking his head before he remembered that Yuuri couldn’t see him. “I can’t… Yuuri, please-”

‘ _I think you can, you’ve done it before, remember, no hands Viktor._ ’ Viktor moaned in frustration, digging his fingers into one of the pillows to keep from failing the request. ‘ _I bet you look beautiful right now. Wish I could see how flushed your cheeks get. Do your fingers feel good Viktor? How many are you using?_ ’ His mate gasped, voice clearly feeling just as much as Viktor was but forced into control.

“I- I can add one more,” Viktor mumbled. “I wish you were here for my heat Yuuri, I want to know what it feels like with your cock inside me, what your knot feels like-” Viktor moaned loudly into a pillow, his fingers brushing over his sweet spot.

‘ _You sound amazing Viktor,_ ’ Yuuri moaned. ‘ _I bet you feel even better; I should get a flight over just to fuck you through your heat; anything you want. Nice and slow or fast and hard. I’d take care of you babe, I’d keep you safe and warm and keep you comfy between the flashes._ ’ His voice was clipped, and distant - Yuuri must have dropped his phone too. ‘ _Just say it, and I’ll fly out, fuck the stupid visa_.’

Viktor knew he would, and whimpered between the thrusts of his hand. Yuuri was already such a good alpha - he was affectionate and considerate, never pushed for anything. Viktor believed Yuuri would ensure his every need was sated during his heat wholeheartedly, and the promises made him want for it even more.

‘ _Keep going Viktor,_ ’ Yuuri encouraged when the arousal began to grip Viktor’s muscles and shake him with involuntary spasms of need. ‘ _If I could…_ persuade _you to, I would. If you wanted. Would you want to try that?_ ’

Viktor keened at the implication. Infliction, Yuuri was talking about infliction, that power between mates. Chris swore it was one of the best parts. Viktor had been curious for a while, about being under Yuuri’s bidding for a time, being at his mercy. His hindbrain practically purred at that absolute certainty of claiming.

Once mated, it would have no other effect on anyone else. It would be the absolute proof beside their marks that Yuuri belonged to _him_.

“Please!” He groaned, forcing his fingers to brush his prostate again, crying out more, sharper shorter cries that betrayed just how close he was. “Yuuri please, I want you so much, I want you to claim me, I need you…” he babbled. “No-one else, please…” he choked.

‘ _No one else babe_ ,’ Yuuri gasped, grunts and growls and moans peppering his words. ‘ _Viktor, you sound close, but I know you can keep going for me_ ,’ he continued, his voice warm despite his own audible disarray.

Viktor moaned, trying not to choke on the searing need that had contorted his voice beyond words. He imagined the fingers inside him were Yuuri’s, firmer and more constant, unhindered by Viktor’s desperateness in giving thorough pleasure. He imagined it was his cock, imagine Yuuri pinning him down from behind, lips hovering over that sensitive gland on his neck, the warm of his breath, of his kisses, the gentle, constant touches-

“Yuuri,” Viktor sobbed. “Yuuri, please” he cried, wondering if his grip on the pillow had torn the fabric. His cock was painfully hard now, weeping in mirror of the unrated need that wracked him. slick coated his fingers completely. He was a mess, and it felt wonderful.

‘ _Viktor,_ ’ Yuuri moaned, his own voice distant and fogged with want. ‘ _Viktor keep going, want you to come from my voice. You’d like that, right?_ ’

Viktor whimpered, his breath stuttering as he tried to muffle his voice a little - neighbours! His treacherous brain reminded him -but forcing himself to avoid touching himself. Yuuri was right - the thought of coming from his mate’s voice was so erotic, and without Yuuri in the room it would be just that.

No encouragement or persuasion. Just pure audial erotica, and that was absolutely heady to him. “What- What else will you…” Viktor cried out, but Yuuri seemed to understand.

‘ _I’d get you to ride me,_ ’ you hissed, the thick tone cracked as he worked on his own arousal. ‘ _So I can make sure every inch of you is fucked, just the way you’d like it babe,_ ’ he gasped. ‘ _So I can hold you close kiss, you, whisper how much I love you in your ear, or push you down and own you, claim you…_ ’

Viktor would very much enjoy that, and he pictured it, fucking himself with his fingers, harder, with jerkier movements as the arousal mad concentration harder. He imagined how it would feel to go down on Yuuri’s cock, if he’d be able to take his knot that way, be able to wrap his arms about his mate neck, whisper all the affectionate nicknames he had to Yuuri, gasp into his kisses-

When he imagined the bite, the thing that would bind them together for the rest of their lives, that mark he wanted so desperately, Yuuri’s mark on him and the chance to claim Yuuri for himself, Viktor came, _hard_.

He gasped and cried Yuuri’s name into his pillow, trying to keep his voice private as his load released on the sheets and bundles of his nest; the relief that hit was exhausting in its strength. Seconds later, he heard yours own strangled groan of completion as Viktor fell into his post-sex haze.

Gasping for his breath, Viktor felt the realisation coming through, the reality of the fierce orgasm and closed his eyes, basking in the feeling. _That was amazing…_

‘ _No arguments here…_ ’ Yuuri choked, sounding tired too, but marginally better than his mate.

Viktor blinked; he’d been speaking out loud? He hadn’t even noticed.

“I should hope not,” Viktor laughed wearily.

‘ _Was… Was that okay then?_ ’ Yuuri asked anxiously. ‘ _I didn’t say anything that you didn’t… It wasn’t too much? If you didn’t like any of it, I promise I won’t s_ -’

“Yuuri, _Солнышко_ , that was absolutely _wonderful,”_ Viktor asked, his breath still heavy despite to sheer contentment and sudden feeling of ease and relaxation that came with completion. “And guess what?

‘ _What?_ ’ Yuuri's voice was just as worn and kind as always.

“I love you.”

‘ _I love you too._ ’ Viktor could almost see the soft smile. ‘ _Viktor?_ ’

“Yes?”

‘ _I miss you,_ ’ Yuuri voice cracked.

Viktor stifled his wine as best he could before it brought on tears. “I miss you too,” he replied, instantly and as immediately sincere in the statement.

* * *

 After a nap, and some pining into his pillows after the phone call, it was time for a shower. Viktor still dwelled his thoughts on Phichit, but his need to stalk him on social media had been pacified for now.

The rest of the week passed quickly, and soon enough it was time to pick up Yuri up from the airport. It didn’t take more than an hour between meeting him at arrivals and claiming his luggage before they were on their way back to the house.

"Mамочка?" Viktor called out curiously, holding the door open for his younger companion. There was no answer, and he assumed she was still at the restaurant.

"Take your case up to the spare room," he said to Yuri as the teenager lifted his suitcase over the doorframe. "Blue door, I'll make some tea and see about food," he added.

Yuri nodded, awkward as always in his thanks, choosing the stay silent until he could work out how to express himself without coming across as soft.

He'd been surprised to see the message from Yakov asking him to take in his rink mate for the next few days, but his mother hadn’t minded the extra company, and neither did Viktor. After setting the kettle, pulling the provisions out of the cupboard, he was soon joined by the blonde boy, who had a wad of papers in hand. "Is it alright if I work on these?" He asked awkwardly. "They're from my tutor."

Viktor nodded. Time was precious, and if he wanted to study, Viktor wasn't going to stop him. He remembered his own haphazard education.

 Viktor had willingly sacrificed it for competition, and dedicated most of his life to skating after passing his ОГЭ. Nobody blinked about his lack of a college or senior high school certificate because of his success, but he sometimes wondered about it.

Maybe if he hadn’t been so focused on skating, he would have, but the ice had captured his soul young, and he didn't really care about it. It had been difficult to get just a basic certificate of education with his schedule, and Yuri's was starting to look much the same.

"How were your sisters? Does Sofíya like the nursery?” he asked - he never asked too much about Yuri's family, knowing the situation was at best complex, but he was picking up a slight scent of... unease from his rink mate, and couldn't help feeling concerned by the muted character Yuri had been displayed since meeting him at the airport.

“She likes it a lot - the teachers are better at understanding her. The other two are fine," Yuri shrugged, his eyes flicking from the power to the box of matcha Viktor’s mother had added to the collection of black and white teas reserved for hosting guests.

It was a small tribute to Yuuri already and it had made his heart smile at the subtle but considerate gesture; Yuuri and his mother had managed to communicate with only broken Japanese or Russian and a small amount of English, but she was already trying to make him feel more at home, and he hadn't even arrived yet.

"Does your grandfather still look after Sofíya and Mariya?” Viktor asked, pushing the tin towards him slightly. Taking the permission, he watched as Yuri quickly duped a few teaspoons into his mug, pouring hot water and milk and a godforsaken amount of honey into the concoction.

"Not Masha, she's in school now. He still picks her and Sofa up though, since Lena works," he muttered, flicking through the questions on his worksheets.

His tone signified the end of the conversation, so Viktor didn't press any further. “Are leftover cabbage rolls alright?” He asked. “There’s some salad too,” he added, after opening the door to the fridge for the previous night’s leftovers.

He could always make some soup if Yuri was hungry later. With the teenager’s nod, he shoved the things in the microwave and made up a couple of plates with the leftovers. It didn’t take long, and after eating the rolls and salad, Viktor left Yuri to his work to check on the spare room. Since it didn’t need new bedding, he took some more time to enjoy another shower. Just to make sure there was no lingering scent.

He was hardly ashamed - gods above his mother had seen much worse when his heats started - but letting the scent stay wasn’t exactly ideal with Yuri stopping for a few days. That in mind, he quickly made sure to take the soiled sheets from his nest, and stuff them into the washer.

Heading back through to the kitchen, Yuri was still glaring at his homework. Glancing over his shoulder, Viktor made a face at the once-familiar anatomy diagrams. “Personal & Social Dynamics?” He guessed wryly.

Yuri flopped onto the table face first. “It’s awful. I don’t even _need_ this to skate,” he groaned.

“No, you don’t,” Viktor agreed, smiling a little as he remembered bemoaning to Yakov about the exact same thing. “But one day you will. You’re undeclared, so it’s better you know everything you need to now rather than get a surprise later,” he reminded.

“Okay, now you sound like Yakov,” the teenager mumbled. “And my grandpa.”

“I’m not quite that old, but I am technically a coach, and I speak from experience Yuri,” Viktor chuckled. “What’s the problem with it?” He asked, taking a seat beside his rink mate. It wasn’t the first time he’d helped him with studying and it wouldn’t be the last.

“Betas,” Yuri grumbled. “I wanted to ask Yakov about it, but,” Yuuri made another face; Viktor couldn’t help commiserating. “You said your step-dad was a beta once, right?”

Viktor nodded. “He was. Show me where you’re getting stuck,” he said.

They poured over it for a while, working through the pile on the desk. By the time Ykaterina called out that she was home, they had moved on from Russian and English, with of which Yuuri and Viktor had no problems with, and were both getting frazzled by maths instead.

“Maybe I can convince my tutor to let this one go until Katsudon gets here…” Yuri groaned when the formula they worked on turned out wrong _again_. Viktor was surprised he was even trying - normally Yuri stuffed his maths work to the bottom of the pile and then had to finish it before deadlines en-masse.

Today, he’d gone through every single equation - seriously, this was what maths was nowadays? It made Viktor feel old. His basic maths had been considered difficult if you got to long division and multiplication. The algebra (or was it geometry? Was there even a difference?) Yuuri was struggling with was way over his head.

“Maybe, or you could just burn it,” Viktor suggested. “Then feign ignorance?” Then he blinked, remembering he shouldn’t be encouraging homework vandalism. “Actually, no bad idea. The FFKKR will frown at you. Don’t make them mad like me, ok?”

“Since when are you so blasé?” Yuri asked, snorting with mild humour.

 _Since Yuuri and I passed some sort of relationship barrier and had phone sex_ Viktor thought to himself. He couldn’t say that out loud though. _Though I still haven’t asked him about Phichit._

“Nothing specific I don’t think, why?” He asked, reaching for a glass of water.

“You’re so calm right now. You were wound tight as a spring before I left. It’s weird. Katsudon didn’t sneak over for a booty call, did he?”

Viktor choked on his water. “No! Of course not! He’s in Osaka though, the JSF is trying to help with his application,” he gasped, thumping down the mouthful with a fist on his sternum.

“Can you blame me for asking? You ran off without a second though, and you’re noisy. Katsudon is quiet - he’s sneaky, and thinks more, he’d definitely sneak over if he could,” Yuuri grumbled. “He’s as bad as you are!”

“Well, that’s what happens when you find a mate Yuri, but I assure you, Yuuri is not in Russia,” Viktor smiled. He was like a cactus sometimes, but Yuri really had a good heart; his worries and concerns were dressed up in complaints like he dressed up in cat print. “He did send me some nesting materials though! I missed his scent so much Yurio! Isn’t that sweet?”

“Ugh, shut up,” Yuri grumbled. “I’m sorry I asked.”

* * *

My notes for this chapter:

> **PHONE SEX AIN’T FEKKIN’ COMMUNICATIN’ VITYA!**

_Please do not use Viktor as an example of how to communicate, he’s not very good at it._ He is also no good at homework advice - DO NOT BURN YOUR HOMEWORK KIDDOS. I had to do something, for Viktor’s pining, poor thing. But still. If you have romantic issues to work out with your partner, do not follow his example; this is called Avoidance and TRUST ME, it is not good for brains.

My google searches for this chapter will be mildly alarming to anyone with delicate sensibilities, ~~since I had to google phone sex and dirtytalk,~~ but I'm honestly more concerned over what to call smut anymore? how do I even tag this - smut? Phone-sex? M rated stuff? Sex scenes used to just be called lemons (which I have _never_ understood but hey ho, fandoms change in 14 years). 

So Yeah, this is one of the filthiest things I’ve written  ~~if not read~~ SO. There you go. BYE ~~I need to drown myself in a holy water shower.~~

_BTW; Just to be clear now, no-one, at any point in this fic, is going to be coerced into anything with infliction! Besides the background mention of abuse which has cause Yuuri's Visa delay, there will be no other instances in the pic itself._

* * *

 [Детка - Flirty way of saying _'Babe'_ ]

[Солнышко - ' _Sun_ ' or _'Sunshine']_


	9. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Viktor luck-out.

**Mой Юрочка <3**

 

> _Hi Viktor!_
> 
> _I’m sorry I didn’t call much last week, but I just wanted to check in and let you know I got home alright. I’m going back to Tokyo next week for some more paperwork and meetings though._
> 
> _I can’t be certain, but I think there’s been some progress? I’ve booked a rink again so don’t worry about practice! Minako is flying over to go through some choreography._
> 
> _I’ll call you as soon as I get home, I promise_
> 
> _Yuuri xxxxx_

* * *

Viktor flopped on the sofa, staring at his phone with affection in his belly. Yuuri was always so affectionate over phone. Not that he wasn’t in public either, but it was reinforcing Viktor newfound assurance that his mate had a physical interest in him.

With his heat probably only days away, Viktor was currently drunk on the feeling.

When he had woken up the day of Yakov’s return he’d struggled to find any motivation to leave his nest. His mother had to knock on the door as she left for work (She hadn’t needed to do that since he was ten years old).

Then, the next day she’d found him trying to befriend Gosha after giving the African grey some more Thai restaurant menus. The bird had been having none of it, and snapped his beak as Viktor tried to poke his fingers into the cage and stroke his feathers. Viktor had not cried over the menace’s rejection, but he had been unreasonably offended and sulky for several hours.

The day after that, Yakov had been forced intervene when his oldest skater started stealing jackets at the rink to hoard in one corner of the locker room. Viktor spent an hour sulking in a ball, cuddling Mila as their unsympathetic coach returned the belongings.

“It’s an _amazing_ nest Viktor,” his fellow omega assured him after hollering at Yakov indignantly on his behalf. “I bet if Yuuri were here, he’d have scented every inch of it for you.”

Viktor could only groan, burry his head in her shoulder, wrap his arms around the younger girl’s belly and pull her close for comfort; he was torn between a mixture of embarrassment and illogical hurt that _no-one liked his nest_.

Then there was the growling and purring.

He growled at Yakov when he came to close. He purred with Mila though, and she happily indulged him, claiming that they had to stick together amongst the hive of alphas and betas at the rink. Poor Georgi had to stay about ten metres away lest Viktor’s hindbrain panic and protest at the ‘ _unrecognised_ ’ alpha.

The signs came on even more strongly when Yuri was around, since he was still living with Viktor and Ykaterina; Yuri had been set to move back in with Yakov and Lilia the day their coach got back, but there had been an argument between the pair.

Viktor hadn't intended to overhear it, but his locker was right by the door to the office.

' _Yura, sponsors pull out all the time - this isn't something to worry about yet, I told you to forget the rink and coach fees for now, just use the ones you still have to keep things stable at home.'_

' _I can't just get another one that big out of the blue Yakov! I haven't been active enough in seniors yet!_ '

Despite what he had overheard, Viktor had decided not to pry. At least not until he has some idea of how to help more. For now, his best bet was just to try make his rinkmate feel welcome in hopes he would open up.

The small things he did eventually indicated that the younger boy’s presence was augmenting parental instincts. It was something that hadn’t happened with his previous heats, and Viktor was both fascinated and horrified with himself when they all added up.

Small things, like making sure Yuri was eating (hardly touching his own food until the teenager had eaten at least half his plate), or making sure he was comfy. Yuri had been at a loss for words when he found a smaller nest in the spare room he was using, but had deigned not to comment (Viktor’s pride thanked him for the small gesture).

Yuri was less keen, but indulged the instinctual scentings before they left in the mornings for training, so he knew that the attention was inevitable. It came to a rather embarrassing head when Viktor couldn't find him earlier in the day though.

It hadn’t taken long to follow Yuri’s scent, and Viktor had found him under a flight of stairs with that ice dancer girl - or was she a pair skater? - Kseniya.

The air hadn’t been thick with pheromones, since both teens had yet to present. They were just experimenting before the full onslaught of puberty hit them. Yuri had always been quiet on what his secondary gender was, taking his lead from Yakov and Viktor, but it didn’t really matter.

Viktor’s hindbrain had designated Yuri as a ‘ _pup_ ’ who needed help and care, and that did not include making-out under stairs with Kseniya. Not when he was clearly worried and anxious about other aspects of his life. He didn’t need hormones too.

Viktor growled - perturbed that the pup had escaped his watch, and despite the boy’s hurried protests and attempts to explain himself, marched him back to the locker rooms to pack (Kseniya quickly scurried off back to her own coach bright red in the face).

* * *

Tokyo was bustling with people and traffic every time Yuuri visited the metropolis, which lately had been nonstop.

So far, it had also been almost without any results; yes, he’d been able to do some work for his sponsors, and sort out some extra things with the JSF. He’d even been able to practice at an Olympic sized rink for the past few days, which had been nothing short of a dream.

His first skating instructor had found out about of all the chaos in Detroit through Phichit, and had called up her old rink on his behalf - ‘ _You’re always my student Yuuri, and I want to help! I could never support you as much as I wanted when you were younger, but I can make sure you have somewhere to practice in Tokyo!_ ’ She’d said when he phoned up to thank her. ‘ _Good luck at worlds and Four Continents! I’ll be rooting for you as always!_ ’

But even the full-sized rink wasn’t enough to make up for the reality he really wanted, and so Yuuri threw himself into his training and meetings with the JSF representative (who was now involved in helping speed the application along).

Frankly, it was exhausting, and it was only the fact that he’d had the foresight to put in a request for Wi-Fi at his hotel booking this time that made it bearable.

Being able to talk to Viktor made it better, reminded him that all the hassle and headaches, and frustration that made him want to cry his eyes out was worth it.

Even just the training updates were a blessing.

‘ _I can’t be sure until I see it in person but I think your triple Lutz could do with being tighter, I’ll have to look at it more later. What time is your meeting today?_ ’ Viktor said one morning, when Yuuri called him after an email of a training video taken by a rink worker.

Makkachin was sitting at his feet, having been brought along for the trip. Yuuri hated that he hadn’t been able to spend as much time with her due to all the travelling, so he’d brought her with him this time.

Her physical presence was a comfort at the very least, and she seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery. He’d have to leave her in the hotel room for the meeting, but had arranged with the staff for someone to take her for a walk - he’d been to the hotel before, and they had done the same with Vicchan in the past, so he knew they were trustworthy.

“2pm,” Yuuri said, flopping back onto his bed - it was currently 11am. “I’ll need to get the train at 1pm though. How’s Yuri? Are you still scenting him?”

‘ _Of course! I caught that female skater sniffing around him again, in the locker rooms this time!_ ’

“And that warrants scenting because…?”

Viktor huffed. ‘ _You_ know _why Yuuri,_ ’ he said, confirming Yuuri’s suspicions that his mate had caught onto Yuri’s circumstances. ‘ _He’s distracted and completely unfocused right now. He’s arguing with Yakov, which doesn’t help, and there’s no-one else here,_ ’ he said. ‘ _He needs an outlet, but I’m not going to let him get mixed up in all that before he fully presents. If Yakov and Lilia aren’t going to give him limits and tell him that he’s pushing himself, then who else will he listen to?_ ’

“I’m not saying I don’t agree” Yuuri assured his mate quickly. “I'm worried too. What about you? Not trying to make up with Gosha today?”

Victor made a face, muttering a rather unpleasantly intoned series of phrases. ‘ _As if! The wretch was out for her fly around the house yesterday and she ruined my nest!_ ’ He growled. ‘ _I was finally going to get a photo of it too! I was looking forward to surprising my followers with the big reveal! She stole a jumper and completely destabilised one of the walls! I swear, she does this every single time!_ ’

“So, your heat is on track then?” Yuuri asked anxiously - he really didn’t like being apart from Viktor for his first heat after so long on suppressants. “How are you feeling?”

‘ _Bloated, irritable, and itchy,_ ’ Viktor shrugged. ‘ _Nothing out of the ordinary, though my nesting instinct has never been_ quite _this strong before - even my mother started laughing when she caught me stuffing the kitchen cupboards with a pile of your t-shirts._ ’

Yuuri's couldn't help smiling and blushing a little at the thought of Viktor using his things in his nests. "Why the cupboards?" He asked, not laughing at all.

‘ _I need supplies, don't I?_ ’ Viktor asked. ‘ _I know you’re sending some more - which is wonderful of you Любимая, thank you! - but it'll probably start in the next day or so, if not to night, so I need to stockpile until the delivery arrive._ ’

"You're welcome," Yuuri smiled, glad he'd taken the time to do so again during his few days at home with his family and Makkachin. "You've got everything else, right? Wasn't Yuri asking you about water bottles the other day?"

‘ _Yes, he's been helping too, coming out to get supplies and things. He's actually bought more than I would have but-_ ’ Viktor must have seen something on Yuuri's face on his screen because he held up a hand. ‘ _Don't worry, I gave him the money for it all._ ’ he said quietly.

Yuuri let out a breath. “I’m sorry, I wasn't trying to keep that from you but... when he asked for help it wasn't my place to say anything.”

‘ _Yuuri, its fine, I would have done the same thing,_ ’ Viktor assured him. ‘ _I want to help but unless he asks I don't know what else to do besides letting him stay here._ ’

“I could pay the coaching fees for him, but I don’t think he’d appreciate anything like that being done on the sly,” Yuuri sighed.

‘ _My thoughts exactly, else I’d have done it already,_ ’ Viktor agreed. ‘ _I’ll have to think about it more once my heat is over, but if you think of anything message me? I have to go - the man fitting our new shower is dropping by with designs and I stink of pre-heat._ ’

“I need to catch my train soon, so I’d better go too. If you can let me know if your heat starts if we can’t call before it?’ Yuuri nodded.

‘ _Alright, though I was hoping I could call you during it._ ’

“Viktor!”

His mate laughed - that glorious sound only marred by the speakers of his phone. ‘ _I won’t, I won’t be that rational, even between waves, but wouldn’t that be fun if we could?_ ’ He teased. ‘ _See you later Yuuri - Я люблю тебя!_ ’

Yuuri smiled as he ran a few phrases he’d managed to memorise through his mind. “ _Я… тоже люблю тебя?_ ” he replied, hoping he’d got it right. Russian was complicated, and he was sure he was butchering some of the sounds (like the ‘ _l_ ’ and ‘ _r_ ’ sounds he never got exactly right in English.

‘ _Yuuri that was amazing! Я тоже люблю тебя Mой Солнышко, Mой поросеночек! Your Russian sounds so cute! You’ve been practicing so hard, I can tell! That’s no good, now I’ll have to practice Japanese with Mама, or she’ll be upset I didn’t teach her any! Yuuri, how can I teach her Japanese? I can’t even ask for directions!_ ’

“I have no idea what half of that meant, but you just called me a piggy again didn’t you?”

‘ _Teach me some Japanese Yuuri, how do you say ‘I love you’?_ ’ Viktor laughed again, eyes bright despite how dull they had been at the start of the call. ‘ _If you can say it in Russian, it’s not fair if I can’t say it in your language!_ ’

Yuuri blinked, thinking for a moment; that was a loaded question, in a way. “There’s a couple of ways… **大好きだよ** is probably the best, though you can use… **愛してる**.”

‘ _Which would you use?_ ’ Viktor asked, trying to form the vowels and words silently for a moment. ‘ _What’s the difference?_ ’

“ **愛してる** is… I don’t think anyone who mated with a PB would use it,” Yuuri said simply. “My parents use it sometimes, but they have a full MB. Mari never used it with her ex, and they broke their bond after a couple of years. You can use **大好きだよ** with friends too, lots of things. I use it when I go on and on about Katsudon.”

‘ _I see_ ,’ Viktor mused - he still looked perplexed, and Yuuri had a feeling their next call would also include an episode of ‘ _Viktor’s Adventures on Google, ft. Crash Course Japanese'_.

‘ _Which would you use then? Right now?_ ’ Viktor asked, his voice softer.

“ **愛してる** ” Yuuri said without even thinking. It felt as though the phrase had been sitting on the end of his tongue for months, but he didn’t know how to explain it in English. It was just… more than what the words could handle.

‘ _Then that’s what I’ll use too_ ,’ Viktor decided. ‘ _I’ll call again tomorrow if I can._ **愛してる** _Yuuri._ ’

When Yuuri hung up, his face was red, and he had to slam a pillow in his face to muffle the blissed purring and sobs. Once he’d calmed down, he’d raced out of the hotel for his train, making it with only five minutes to spare.

* * *

At the end of the week, Viktor was apologising with a bag of pirozkhi. He held it up like a sacrificial lamb in one hand, watching as Yuri eyed it from the other end of the sofa.

The week had been a long one for them both, but Yuri had started losing his patience with his rink mate after a third intervention with his ‘ _girlfriend_ ’. Yuri claimed they’d just been kissing again - Viktor, knew better (dark corners hands, and Kseniya’s suspiciously loose training shirts made for a bad mix). But even so.

He knew his instincts had gone into overdrive, and an apology was due.

“God, stop _smelling_ so sad,” Yuri groaned. “I’m not that angry OK? It’s not like none of us weren't expecting you to go a bit crazy,” he grunted, flopping back after taking the peace offering. “Though I really thought Yakov was _joking_ when he said you’d probably start nesting at the rink…”

“The rink is a good spot! The ice what brought me and Yuuri together after all, and its safe - the security system is superb, actually, and there are plenty of scent-controlled rooms-”

“It’s in public! It’s not safe at all!”

Viktor waved his hand and sat down beside him with his own bag of pirozkhi. “It’s not my main nest, it’s just in case. What if someone breaks in here before my heat starts?” Victor reasoned.

“That’s what heat hotels are for,” Yuri grunted. Then he growled a little when Viktor forced him into a cuddle on the sofa. “Are you scenting me _again?_ ” He demanded incredulously as victor nuzzled his hair and glands behind his ears.

“You don’t smell right though Yuri!” Viktor protested. “That’s no good, you need to have someone’s pack scent. And eat your pirozkhi.”

Indeed, he didn’t smell right, but not because of a dulled pack scent. It was his normal scent that worried Viktor; it was confused, stressed out and edgy. Viktor had noticed it, spoken about it to his mate too, and both were concerned.

Yuuri knew what was happening - he’d told Viktor as much before he overheard the argument in the office, but didn’t say what out of respect for the teenager’s privacy. Viktor smiled at the thought; for some reason, knowing that his mate was also concerned about the pup was a good feeling.

Viktor figured that it meant he was feeling broody, which wasn’t exactly a lie (he couldn’t help worrying about his biological clock - he was ‘ _late to mate_ ’ for a male omega).

Yuri groaned, but didn’t move, allowing Viktor to gently press his wrists over his neck; the rest of the evening passed with pirozkhi and sitting together to watch House-2 in the comfy pile Viktor had artfully accumulated on and around the sofa.

“Are you sure you’re going to be comfortable here while I’m having my heat Yuri?” Viktor asked finally, after a half hour of television-induced silence. “It's hardly going to be entertaining and even with scent extractors it might smell a bit, so if it’s going to make you uncomfortable, maybe you might be better off asking to stop with Mila, just till it passes?”

“I'm not staying with the hag - she doesn’t need the hormone excuse to scent me without permission,” Yuri said bluntly, gripping on of the arms victor had snared around his shoulders. “It can’t hurt, and your mother asked if I’d stay - she said you get clingy between phases, and Makkachin in still in Japan. She’s working so I guess I can take the place of your dog, since she’s letting me stay here indefinitely,”

“Ah, of course, well, thank you for sticking around to indulge my irrational heat instincts,” Viktor smiled, holding out his plate. “More Pirozkhi?” He asked. “I don’t think I can finish all of this”

“I’m amazed you can still eat anything at all, this close to it,” Yuri snorted, taking a few from the bag all the same. “Are you feeling okay? Katsudon made me promise him text updates.”

Viktor nearly purred at the thought of Yuuri being so worried he bugged the teenager into giving him updates. “Just the usual, I suppose,” he sighed, flopping against the sofa back; Gosha was glaring at him from the cage, but he bit down the urge to bear his teeth and snarl at the bird.

Instead he turned his thoughts back to Yuri; he had been thinking and thinking, but hadn’t come up with anything that might help his rink mate yet.

He knew he could try asking his own sponsors, but they didn’t normally take on two athletes in the same sport. They wanted to be competitive for a reason. The Olympic team had a shared sponsor, but that only came with recruitment to it, and Yuuri wasn’t there yet.

It would be a year or so before the decisions for the next Olympics started being made. If Yuuri could hang on till then, then there was every chance that he’d be able to attract a bigger sponsor by making the team, but until then, Viktor didn’t know how to help.

He’d have to get used to figuring it out, if he continued coaching after Yuuri.

“Do you know what you’re going to present as Yuri?” He asked as the teen cuddled beside him amongst all the covers and pillows and Yuuri's hoodies. “If you don’t you need to be careful you know, no one secondary is better than the other.”

Yuri groaned in frustration. “We were just making out! Are you seriously going to lecture me about this? I know okay? I’ve done all the reading, I _know_ what’s coming, I’m not entirely stupid,” he grumped, though he didn’t move away, settling for flopping his head back in frustration instead.

“And did you tell Yakov?” Viktor asked, knowingly; the silence was all the answer Viktor needed. “Of course you didn’t. Yuri, please trust me, you need to tell someone at the rink, else if you have a full transition, things could get messy fast. It’s safe enough nowadays, but I promise you, presenting in public is excruciatingly embarrassing no matter what you are.”

“You presented in public?” Yuri scoffed. “No wonder you wanted to nest at the rink.”

“It feels like home, it has nothing to do with where I presented,” Viktor huffed. “But yes, when I was training for my first Olympics in Salt Lake City,” he said, bringing up a channel list for something else to watch.

“You went to Salt Lake?”

“I came 5th, but its beside the point, make sure your coach at least knows your secondary Yuri,” Viktor said, changing the channel to a documentary on Japan. He and his mother had been on the lookout for them, so he hit the record button too. “I know it’s not mandatory, but at the rink, its best he knows.”

“He doesn’t need to know anything,” Yuri grumbled - there was less bite though, so Viktor’s words must be having some sort of effect. “What happened? Did hordes attack you like in the films?”

Victor snorted. “Hardly, that might have happened a few hundred years ago, but not eighteen. Mine was just unexpected, because I was young for it and it caused a lot of trouble - and like I said, it was _mortifying_ once I came around.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow, clearly still expecting an amusing story in exchange for his tolerance of Viktor's nesting habits.

“It was my day off from training, and my parents and grandfather had a day off too, so we went out to Leningrad Zoo for the day. I felt like crap the week leading up to it but I assumed it was just from training. I didn't want to bother everyone since we'd been planning it for ages, but it was a bad idea to have hot dogs and borscht," he shuddered. Yuri made a face.

"Obviously, I couldn't keep it down, omegas don't eat much after pre-heat," he shrugged. "After throwing upon for over an hour in the toilets, I started running a fever, my scent was going haywire, and I ended up collapsing right in front of the polar bears. My grandfather couldn't move me, my parents were off getting food; in the end the zoo security had to cordon the area off for protocol until my mother and Vasíly came back. He got me back to the car, but the damage was done; I think the local paper ran an article on it."

Yuri's face has morphed Ito something crossed between amusement and genuine fear.

"Like I said, humiliating," Viktor reiterated, before stuffing another pirozkhi into his mouth and chewing petulantly - he still hadn't got over that. Presenting in public wasn't a complete health hazard anymore but even so. His _Дeдушка_ had never let him live it down. “You have a high media presence here Yuri, and the press are much worse now than when I was a teenager.”

“Fine, I’ll tell someone, but I’m still not telling Yakov - its no-one’s business until it happens anyway,” Yuri growled.

“Thank you,” Viktor sighed, nuzzling the top of Yuuri’s head. “Start Trek?” He queried, settling on one of the movie channels.

“Sure.”

* * *

By the end of the week, Yuuri was due back at the Russian Embassy for a final meeting. After making his way across town, he was met at the station by the JSF man who had been drafted in to help with the process.

Yoshida was balding, but smartly-dressed omega, and Yuuri gave him the same polite greeting as always. He was a nice, friendly man, who passed their train journey with a brief explanation of the upcoming meeting and what it would entail, before delving out the pictures of his one-year-old granddaughter.

The man was kind, and it was very easy to think of him as just that, but Yuuri knew once they got to the meeting he would be relentless with the reassign officials if necessary.

“Your contract with the Russian coaches has a clause which is supposed to exempt you from this - according to their own documentation, your visa is supposed to be on an individual assessment,” Yoshida said as they waited in the meeting room after arriving at the embassy.

“Really?” Yuuri blinked. “I guess it’s hard to tell since I haven’t seen an English or Japanese copy but I assumed my visa was the same sort of one I needed for Detroit.”

“Really,” Yoshida nodded. “This delay is completely unacceptable, and they know it. If I press that on them, I think we might be lucky. The FFKKR and RSU are not pleased either. It reflects badly on them, and they are eager to showcase your mate as an upcoming coach. Having his only student stuck in Japan due to system errors makes that difficult.”

Yuuri hadn’t thought about it that way, but supposed it made sense.

“You should have been given the paperwork there and then at your first Visa meeting; I’ve checked with the RSU, and they confirmed they had placed a note on the application account to ensure you didn’t have any delays.”

Yuuri opened his mouth in shock, but didn’t get long to think; the door opened and a pair of officials came in - two Russian women - and he was soon lost in the talk of clauses and subparagraphs.

It went on for a couple of hours, Yoshida snapping back and forth with quick jargon in Russian and English, sometimes translating the Russian to Yuuri.

It was exhausting; all the back and forth was exhausting, training was exhausting by himself, even the thought of going back to the hotel was exhausting. He missed Viktor. He’d had a text the other day to say his heat had already started, and he hadn’t been able to sleep properly since he got the message.

They were supposed to be mated by now. Or at the very least, Yuuri was supposed to be there helping him get through his heat. He should be talking to the shower technician with Viktor, trying to find his way around the SCC, making plans for their wedding.

Instead he was still here in Japan, and the one buying too many bottles of water for Viktor was Yuri (who had enough problems of his own to worry about). He should be there, helping him change out the linings of his nest, making sure he had hot baths to stay clean, helping Ykaterina keep him supplied with light food.

And after all that, now he was told this wasn’t supposed to have happened in the first place! That was what Yoshida had said, wasn’t it? That the application for the visa was supposed to be a technicality?

Yuuri hadn’t know that, but knowing now made him even more frustrated. He could have been in Russia already. He could be with Viktor right now, he could have started training at the Skate Champions Club, getting to know his new rinkmates, helping Yuri with his problems with Viktor-

“Yuuri, you need to sign these,” Yoshida said, putting a hand on his shoulder, jerking him out of the spiral.

“Ah, sorry,” he mumbled, quickly pulling out his seal and adding it to one side of his name after scribbling a quick signature. Then again, a few pages in, then again on another few pieces of paper Yoshida gestured to.

“Is that everything?” he asked the two women. “How soon can we expect the paperwork?”

“I’ll take these up to submissions and phone my superior in Moscow, with any luck we can have everything printed off in about an hour or so,” the blonde one said. “But I can write up a temporary document that will give you access until the full one can be sent out if there’s anything pressing?”

“Which would you prefer Yuuri? You’d be able to fly out tonight - you packed for the week didn’t you, and you told me Viktor was getting close to his heat.”

Yuuri blinked. What did that mean?

“I can forward the documents much faster to St Petersburg if you’d prefer - I’m sure your absence is being noted, and this is our fault for the glitch, so it’s the least we can do to make up for the trouble caused.”

“Wait, you mean go to Russia?” Yuuri blinked.

Yoshida grinned at him. “Precisely, you even brought Makkachin didn’t you? I can put a word in to your sponsorship manager and we can have you both over there by tomorrow evening.”

It wasn’t very alpha-like, but the words, the confirmation that he was finally, _finally_ free to go and join his mate lifted the stress and worry so quickly that Yuuri felt he had no other recourse. The tears drizzled over his cheeks and he nodded. If Yoshida said he could be in Russia tomorrow, then damn it, he was going to be there.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, pulling himself together. “Please, if that’s possible, then yes, please!” He said, running a hand through his hair.

He would need to pack, but he had most essentials, phone his parents. They might not be happy for the sudden change but they might not either. He needed to pick up Makkachin and… maybe shower? If he was going to be on the flight for up to 12 hours or even overnight, it would be best.

“We can arrange the flight details if you have a time in mind? Is Makkachin another person?”

“Ah no, she’s Viktor’s poodle,” Yoshida explained in the background. “If there’s something in the next few hours or this afternoon, that would be good I think.”

“We’ll do what we can, and again, we’re extremely sorry for all the trouble and the mix up.”

What happened next was a complete and utter blur for Yuuri. Yoshida whisked him into a taxi after a few more pieces of paper were signed, advising him to call his family as Yoshida sent an update to the JSF, and phoned up one of his sponsors.

Yuuri managed to bumble through an explanation to Mari, her gave a cry of ‘ _Finally!_ ’ In a voice, louder than anything he’d ever heard her say. then his parents, both of who urged him to go. ‘ _You_ need _to go Yuu-chan, you should never have been away from Viktor so long! Don’t worry so much! We’ll be over to visit, and I know Viktor won’t want to be away from the onsen too long!_ ’ his father joked. ‘ _Just go be with him. He needs you right now too, I’ll bet._ ’

Then they were at the hotel room for a shower and hurried packing, before diving back into another taxi to the airport. Yoshida was still on the phone, this time in rapid Russian, though Yuuri recognised Viktor’s address.

Plane tickets were shoved into Yuuri’s hands, and as much as he absorbed all the details from Yoshida, it also went over his head as he realised that this was really _happening_. He was _really_ going to Russia.

Somehow the man had done the impossible and got his blocked visa to go through. He was standing in an airport, and in about half an hour, he’d be boarding a flight to Moscow, then another internal flight. He was going to St. Petersburg. He’d finally see Viktor again.

Yuuri had no idea how Yoshida had done it, but as the man chattered on his phone some more Russian, and they waited, Yuuri made a point of buying the man some good sake as a thank-you gift from the duty-free when he rushed off to get them sandwiches.

Finally, boarding arrived, and Yuuri had to do a double take when he found himself in first class, Makkachin’s travel cage already waiting in the seat area.

The embassy must have been keen to make sure their apologies were taken seriously. Viktor would be so pleased he’d finally been upgraded from economy class. Or maybe mad that he hadn’t been able to convince Yuuri himself.

Should he call him? Or should he surprise him? In the middle of his heat, Yuuri didn’t think he’d appreciate the surprise, but then again, this was the man who had shown up naked at the onsen to offer his coaching services. He’d probably love it.

After checking the time, he decided it was worth a try. Viktor might still be awake.

Dialling Viktor’s home phone number, he had to wait a while before it was picked up.

‘ _Kovalenko residence,_ ’ Yuri’s voice said, sounding a bit shaky.

“It’s me,” Yuuri said. “I’m at the airport in Tokyo. The visa finally got fast-tracked, is Viktor able to talk at all? I’ll be at Pulkovo tomorrow, Makkachin too,” he said, making his way towards the seats again, where Yoshida was watching Makkachin’s travel cage.

‘ _Katsudon?! You- Tomorrow? Seriously?! Thank fuck for that!_ ’ the teenager cried at the end of the line. ‘ _Sorry, no… Yuri… Viktor’s… he’s not doing so great._ ’

Yuuri felt his blood run cold, taking the previous euphoria with it.

“What happened?” He asked. “Yuri, what do you mean? What’s going on?”

‘I don’t think-’

“Yuri, please,” Yuuri begged. “You need to tell me so I can be prepared when I get there, no matter how bad it is.”

There was a sigh. ‘ _I… I dunno exactly, but he started getting too hot when the third wave started. And the gap between it and the one before was too short, he was sweating way too much and couldn’t stand, but we just thought it was a bad start…_ ’ Yuri said. ‘ _When the next phase and… it was just as if there wasn’t a fourth wave…_ ’

Yuuri bit his lip hearing the waver in the teenager’s voice; he was obviously worried and confused too, and that alone would have set off warning bells. He could hear the slight tremor, slight panic.

‘ _Ykaterina went in to check on him and we could tell it was bad. He was in pain so we phone the doctor, but by the time he got here it was too strong - he was swelling up and was having trouble breathing. They’re at the hospital now._ ’

“Yuri, don’t worry, I’m sure Dr Lekov know what to do,” Yuuri said, quashing his own internal panic. “Viktor will be fine, I promise, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are you okay?”

‘ _I’m fine,_ ’ Yuri mumbled. ‘ _I couldn’t go in the ambulance since I’m not family… but, someone had to stay behind in case Yakov phoned so I’m glad I did. Ykaterina was going to phone you but her English is still rusty._ ’

“I’m glad you told me _Юра_ ,” Yuuri said, carefully using the nickname Viktor had occasionally used for the boy before a tannoi drew his eyes to the departure gate announcement screen. “My flight is boarding now, but I’ll text you when I land in China, OK? Keep me posted. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Could you maybe call a taxi for me landing in Pulkovo? My Russian isn’t that great yet.”

‘ _I’ll… figure something out. I must call Yakov too. Text me at your stops_.’

“Alright, thank you Yura.”

Ending the phone-call, Yuuri ran his fingers over his head, pulling at it so he didn’t let the howl of frustration loose in the crowded seating area. It seemed despite the seeming turn of luck, his fight couldn’t take off quickly enough. 

* * *

[Любимая - _Darling, Sweethear_ t.]   
[Я люблю тебя - _I love you._ ]  
[Я тоже тебя люблю - _I love you too_.]  
[大好きだよ - _I love you_ / _I really like you_.]  
[愛してる - _I love you_.]

* * *

Well. Reunion party, anyone?

Also for those interested, I took my Japanese translations from [this](https://nihongoshark.com) amazing website/blog, which explains the differences in one of the best ways I've seen. I have also started posting some additional world building sections on my [Tumblr](http://ncj700.tumblr.com) for anyone interested! just scroll down to the Five Times links on the right :)


	10. Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit talks, Yuri opens up, Yakov helps, Dr Lekov explains, and Yuri makes a promise to his mate.

**iMessage  
**_You have_ 5 _new messages._

> **Katsudon** _  
> _ Just landed in China - any news?
> 
> **Дeдушка  
>  ** How is Viktor?
> 
> **Мила**  
>  How's Viktor doing? I've scouted around for Yuuri on insta and twitter but I can't find him! Sorry Yuri :( I'll keep trying! Georgi is trying to hack Yakov's laptop for the number to Hasetsu.
> 
> **Лена**  
>  Heard from Grandpa and Mila - try not to worry OK? Viktor will be fine Yura, he's got his mate right? He's not Ma.
> 
> **Яков**  
>  Keep trying to get in touch with Katsuki. I'm going up to check on Vitya and Katya at the hospital.

* * *

Yuuri' groaned, flopping back into the plush couch of the VIP lounge of Pudong Airport as his mind whirled with worry for his mate, and for Yuri. This was too much for a kid to be dealing with, but he knew he'd worry. Yuri worried almost as badly as Yuuri did, he just did a better job internalising.

His mind didn't stay on Yuri though; Viktor soon filled his anxious thoughts as he tried to rest on the plush sofa.

How bad did heats have to be for an omega to need hospital sedation? Earlier Yuri had said that Viktor had been struggling to breathe. He'd sent a flurry of messages to his father, asking if he knew anything, or had experienced anything similar, but also knew it currently arse-o-clock back in Hasetsu. He wouldn't get the messages for a good several more hours.

It wasn't even a good time in Russia, and though Yuuri knew Yuri would stay up, it wasn't fair to badger a teenager for information he wasn't being given. Frankly, there were few people Yuuri could comfortably talk to about this. He needed to talk to an omega, someone who had experience he never would with what his mate was going through.

As he turned the thought over in his mind - contemplating a call to Ykaterina-san - his phone lit up with a new message.

> **Phichit-kun**
> 
> _I just got a message from Mila about what happened! Are you OK? Have you landed anywhere yet?_

Yuuri's nearly whimpered with relief, and quickly took advantage of the VIP lounge's superset wi-if to boot up FaceTime without a moment' breath (after letting Makkachin out of the carrier to stretch her legs and flop beside him on the sofa).

He'd been so panicked he'd almost forgotten his best friend (his packmate even!). Phichit knew far and above better than anyone what Viktor might be going through. He'd gone through nearly everything it was possible for an omega to experience, and his grounded support was more than Yuuri's deserved sometimes.

The call connected in seconds, and Phichit concerned face faded into the screen of his bedroom at the apartment he rented in Bangkok.

' _Hey, you look moderately awful; where are you right now?_ ' He asked gently.

"Shanghai," Yuuri replied, wiping his face with one hand. "Pudong, I'm waiting for the changeover but it's not for another two hours or so."

' _Though it looked familiar,'_ Phichit nodded. ' _Have you heard anything? All Mila told me was that Viktor's heat got bad,_ ' he explained, voiced quiet and a hamster plush cuddled to his chest.

"He couldn't breathe properly Phichit," Yuuri said, trying not to cry at the thought. What good would it do? ". That's all I know. Yuri doesn't know anything else."

' _He'll be okay Yuuri, a heat like that isn't dangerous; I've had one like it before, remember? The doctors just stuffed me with more testosterone and it was over in a blink,_ ' his friend said earnestly. 'It's the chills you have to worry about.'

“I’d forgotten about that, but your situation was different, wasn’t it?” Yuuri said biting his lip.

‘ _Not by_ that _much, it was still a heat. It was just ridiculously poorly timed. You’re dealing with the same sort of situation too,_ ’ Phichit reasoned. ‘ _Frankly there are so many types of heats I don’t even know how to describe all of them in English._ ’

“That’s why I’m worried, Viktor and I… we’re _pre-bonded_ Phichit - what if there are side effects because I’m stuck halfway across the world? Or because Viktor’s been on suppressants for most of his life?” Yuuri bit out, no even registering his sharp tone until he’d finished talking. He felt his face go red. “Oh, Phichit, I’m sorry. I just... hate this! I'm finally going to Russia after all the hassle and now this too!”

‘ _Yuuri, it’s okay. I’d be freaking out in your place too. I’ve already been there. It’s awful, but everything will be fine.’_ Phichit insisted. _‘Omegas have bad heats all the time. Viktor might be grumpier than usual when you get there, but most of them are easy to fix, and it won’t hurt him. Our bodies are built to deal with this crap Yuuri - You_ know _that. Honestly, you can be such an Alpha sometimes. I always forget, then something normal happens, and you freak out_ ’

“If you’re referring to Ai-chan, I think I was perfectly in the right state of mind to worry” Yuuri snorted - Phichit had a wonderful way of underestimating the frantic last two years of their training in Detroit. “You were in hospital, and that alpha girl wouldn’t leave us alone all the way there!”

‘ _Love you too pack-leader!_ ’ Phichit winked. ‘ _Stop worrying so much though! There’s no point until you get to St. Petersburg. Speaking of packs… what_ have _you told Viktor?_ ’

Yuuri blinked. “Phichit, I haven’t told him anything about it. It’s not my place to say anything. Without your permission.”

‘ _I figured…_ ’ Phichit grumbled under his breath, before sighing. ‘ _You should tell him. I thought you’d at least told him about the PB, and mentioned it a few weeks ago._ ’

Yuuri froze. “W-What? Phichit! Why didn’t you say something sooner? You know what people think about it!”

‘ _I know, I know, I’m sorry!_ ’ His friend whined, likely imagining the irritated heat bleeding into his scent. ‘ _But he freaked out Yuuri! I explained the basics and he seemed okay, but I didn’t tell him everything though - I_ couldn’t _. You have to talk to him about it. I know if someone told me_ my _mate had a PB with another omega, I’d go rip his Korean hide to shreds and kick him out of my nest until I got a decent explanation._ ’

“Still - with all this that’s been going on, it never occurred to you to tell me? He hasn’t mentioned a thing, and you’re right - Viktor’s as insecure as I am sometimes Phichit! He’s probably been worrying about this!”

Yuuri didn’t have to be stuck in a Chinese airport to know how bad this would look to Viktor. He’d stew over it, ask innocuous questions, or worse _google things_. In fact, that was a given, and Yuuri knew what was out on the internet about him and Phichit - it certainly wasn’t anything that would help.

‘ _I guess I assumed he would ask you on face time or when…_ ’

“Or when I got to Russia?” Yuuri guessed. “Phichit, it’s been over two months!”

Yuuri suddenly felt complicated; it was one thing dealing with the visa, the JSF, the separation anxiety eating away at him with being separated from Viktor, the worried about coming of suppressants, of outing their secondary genders. To know that Viktor had been dealing with this too made him feel incredibly guilty.

‘ _I’m really sorry Yuuri,_ ’ Phichit said his voice low and contrite.

“It’s okay,” Yuuri sighed. “It’s my own fault for not saying something sooner, and I know you’ve got your own plate of problems to worry about. You’re really sure I can tell him everything? Can I show him any photos?”

‘ _The whole nine yards,_ ’ Phichit nodded. ‘ _I’ll send you some good ones. And if Viktor wants to talk to me about it, I don’t mind if he face-times either._ ’

Yuuri let out a breath. “Thank you. You’re sure?”

‘ _I’m sure. Besides, if you and Viktor are brave enough to come out of secondary anonymity, maybe I should too,_ ’ Phichit grinned. ‘ _I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and Dad and Pops will just have to lump it. I have no shameful secrets, despite what they think,_ ’ he sniffed stubbornly.

“Really?”

‘ _Really, really._ ’

The tannoi came over the speakers, announcing the flight number Yuuri was waiting for. Had it been two hours already? He had been talking to Phichit for longer than he originally thought.

“That’s my call,” he said to his friend. “But message me? I’ll let you know what’s going on?”

‘ _Try and stop me, go get your flight! Reunite with your love! And tell him I’m sorry for worrying him and that I said hi!_ ’ Phichit beamed.

“I will. Thanks, Phichit. See you later.”

‘ _บ๊ายบาย!_ ’ Phichit waved. With his parting endearment, the screen went back to normal, and Yuuri got to his feet, picking up his luggage, and encouraging Makkachin back into her carrier.

She gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look, but yawned, and obediently returned to the carrier. If he could get away with it, he’d open up the front for her once they were on the plane. Maybe that would help her feel more reassured on the long stint to Russia.

At the very least it would help him.

* * *

 

Viktor didn’t remember what happened when his heat started, but he definitely felt the horror of it when he briefly came out of sleep and found himself not in the comfortable, safe, confines of his nest, but… well he had no idea where. He could hardly see anything beyond fuzzy shapes.

It was comfortable certainly but it wasn’t his nest, and the sudden change in scenery was so distracting Viktor hardly realised his heat was over until he moved.

The bone crushing ache that radiated down his throat and into his head quickly had him burrowing back beneath the blankets (which at least were from his nest and provided some reassurance with Yuuri’s scent). Then the rest of his body followed suit and he hissed through the aching pain.

What on earth had happened?

He felt like he’d been crushed beneath a steam roller, and his throat… he couldn’t even begin to describe the ache in his neck and throat. As he tried to block it out, taking more note of his surroundings, Viktor realised there was breathing tube in his nose.

Growling, he lifted a hand tor weakly try and tug it out, only for a familiar presence. “Viten’ka! Leave it in sweetheart, I know it’s horrible, but you need it right now!” His mother said gently, but firmly pulling his hands away from the tubes.

He tried to focus his gaze on her, but the image was blurry and the resorted to a whine instead.

“I know, everything hurts, I’ve called for Dr. Lekov, but don’t worry. You’re okay, I promise, just a little worn out,” she assured him.

Viktor stared in her general direction, then reluctantly nodded. He didn’t dare try speaking right now. Instead he closed his eyes, waiting as his mother checked his forehead and tried to get him to drink something through a straw - water? It was cool, and helped soothe his burning throat a little.

Then Dr. Lekov arrived. “Good to see you awake again Viktor,” he smiled. He performed a few checks - eye response to light, and a painful examination inside his neck. It was only the generic ‘ _say aaah_ ’ movement, but it nearly had him in tears with the stinging stretch of muscle and glands around his throat.

“I’m sorry, I know how unpleasant these can be after a heat like that, but they have to be done. You had us worried for a moment, but I’m happy to say you’re on the mend now,” the elderly omega said with sincerity. Viktor opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow - even that tiny action tugged at his neck and made it twinge.

“I imagine you’re in some pain, so I’ll prescribe some more morphine to help with that, but first I need to ask you a few questions. Can you blink once for yes and twice for no? I know you probably can’t see very well, but don’t worry, it should fade as your body processes that last of your extra hormones left from the heat.”

Viktor relaxed a little and blinked twice, slowly to make the response obvious.

“Alright,” the doctor smiled, taking a seat on a chair his mother had pulled up for the man. “Do you remember what we talked bout at your last appointment?”

One blinks, ‘ _Yes_.’

“Good; well, I wish we’d been wrong, but your heat was much stronger than we were expecting it to be. I’m still running some blood tests, but as we thought, it was likely due to the length of time you’ve been suppressing,” Lekov began.

Viktor nodded a little, trying to shift up so he could respond a little better, and breathe easier. Someone helped letting him grip onto one of their shoulders as they brought the head area of the nest up so he could sit properly - his mother? He recognised her scent. She must have come back in with Dr Lekov.

“Your first wave was fine, the phase between that and the second a little short, but nothing to be alarmed about,” Lekov continued, explaining the events that had brought Viktor to the clinic. “Your second wave was also good, standard length, but your phase between it and the third was very short. your temperature began to spike during the third wave, and you were having some trouble moving, perspiring too much, and it was followed by another short phase. After the fourth wave began, it was continuous.”

Viktor’s eyes widened; no wonder he felt like he’d swallowed half of his cacti collection and fifty ghost peppers. Had it really been that bad? Even when his first one came at the goddamn zoo his heats had never been that bad.

A familiar scent and soft fingers brushed his greased hair away from his eyes. “I came in to check on you and you could barely move,” his mother explained, worry coming through in her voice. “You were boiling over, sweating, could barely see straight. I could tell you were in pain. Your glands were too swollen for you to breathe properly. Yurachka even tried icing them down while I called the ambulance.”

So that was why he had the breathing tube. He wondered what Yuri was thinking - he felt a bit of softness from the thought of the teenager helping his mother through the panic. He’d really have to make it up to him. Yuri shouldn’t have to worry about this, but the thought was nice.

“A very shrewd decision by young Mr Plisetsky, I do believe it helped keep you from blacking out completely,” Lekov agreed, admiration in his voice. “After we got here, I was able to give you some synthetic hormones based off the scent of your mate we took from some of nest materials,” he explained. “It’s mostly neutralised your heat, but I’ve temporarily given you a semi-suppressant, which I’d like you to keep taking until he arrives.”

Viktor raised his eyes in confusion again despite his temporary blindness - there was no telling how long that would be, surely it would be better just to wean himself through this god-awful disaster of biology?

“My reasoning being,” Lekov added. “Is that your pre-bond is very strong for an unmated couple Viktor,” he explained. “Your body refused to react to the normal synthetic hormones we first tried. I’ve conducted some tests, and honestly, there’s not much difference between the level you have now and those of full mated pairs. You’re very compatible, which is a very good thing, but it does make calming your body after things like this slightly more difficult. Does that make sense?”

One slow blink, ‘ _Yes._ ’

“Good. I’ll come talk to you some more later, but for now, I’ll adjust your morphine and anti-inflammatories. Your glands are still very swollen, so don’t be surprised if you can’t talk for a couple more days. If you can I’d like you to try eat and drink something light, and get some more rest. Sound like a plan?”

Viktor let out a breath, sinking back into his pillows, and nodded. He was exhausted, even with just this amount of moment and thinking, processing, reactions to the news that he’d gone through the heat-standard of a fried circuit board.

With that, he listened as the Dr. Lekov adjusted what he assumed was a drip from the feeling of the tube and ache on the back of his hand, followed some shuffling with another machine.

“Do you want some more water Viten’ka?” His mother asked as the doctor quietly left the room. Nodding, Viktor made the effort to at least hold the straw this time, managing a few mouthfuls.

“Yura phoned earlier, he called your Yurachka to let him know what’s happened,” she told him, holding his hair out of the way as he took a few more mouthfuls.

After the first few he realised just how thirsty he was. He felt dry, like all the liquid had been squeezed out of his body.

It probably had. If his heat had been bad enough to land him in hospital, then he was probably dehydrated from slick production and sweating, going by what his mother and Dr. Lekov had said. Even his half-blind eyes felt dry.

He hated the thought of Yuuri worrying though. He understood why they had told him - Yuri had promised to keep his mate updated about his heat, and Yuuri would want to know. It would be unfair to hide it from him.

“He had some good news though,” his mother added, her scent spiking excitedly as Viktor paused, taking a few deep breaths after the exhausting mouthfuls of water. He waited. What could possibly be good news right now.

“Mr. Yoshida’s intervention did the trick,” she smiled, at him, putting the glass back on the table. “The Russian Embassy in Tokyo fast-tracked his Visa, and had him on a flight a few hours after his meeting. Last Yura heard from him, he and Makkachin were just leaving Shanghai yesterday afternoon. He should be landing later tonight or tomorrow morning, provided there aren’t any delays.”

Viktor stared at her fuzzy shape. Yuuri was coming to Russia? He finally had his visa? Despite being dry as a bone, he couldn’t help the tears of relief that welled over his cheeks and streamed down his face with the news.

‘ _Thank god._ ’ He thought to himself, biting his lip and trying to stem the flow. ‘ _Thank god._ ’

The revelation that he wasn’t going g to be along any more, that his mate was finally going to be here with him, was wonderful but so strong that Viktor was simply too exhausted to try and find out more.

With the news putting a weary smile on his face as the morphine kicked in, he drifted back to sleep.

* * *

**You have 14 missed calls:**

> 5 _missed calls from_ **Phichit-kun**
> 
> 6 _missed calls from_ **Yuri.**
> 
> 2 _missed call from_ **Ykaterina-san.**
> 
> 1 _missed call from_ **Yakov Feltsman.**

 

 **iMessage**  
_You have_ 24 _unread messages._

> **Yuri**  
>  _Thought you’d want to know Viktor woke up for a while. He’d drugged up on morphine and his glands are still too swollen to talk but he’ll be alright, so don’t freak yourself out._  
>    
>  _Heard the plan from Yakov. I’ll see you when you land._
> 
> **Yakov Feltsman**  
>  _Heard from Yura that your flight finally came through, and that he’s told you the situation with Viktor. Things were a bit dicey, but seem to have settled. Keep us updated about your flight when you can._  
>    
>  _Spoke to Ykaterina, and she’s going to give you the keys so you can drop off Makkachin and your things at the house. Don’t bother with a taxi - they’re overcharged assholes. I’ll drop by to meet you at Pulkovo._
> 
> **Phichit-kun**  
>  _Have you landed yet? I heard from Yuri that Viktor’s doing better. Keep your chin up and don’t stress! I’ll be up for a while yet, so keep me tuned in!_  
>    
>  _I checked out some stuff online for you! Here’s a_ link _to a page about heats after suppressing - I don’t k now if it will help, but it explains a lot._
> 
> 5 more messages.
> 
> **Ykaterina-san**  
>  _Hello Yurachka! I am happy to hearing you are on flight, though I am sad things are not good! Viktor is much better, and I have told him you are on flying here. If he is better, I think he would call!_  
>    
>  _I think you want to know what things are like, so I am asking Dr. Lekov to tell this for me - my English is not very good enough to say!_
> 
> _Hello Mr. Katsuki - this is Dr. Lekov, Viktor’s omegologist speaking. When Viktor got to the hospital we tried synthetic hormones to calm his heat…_  
>    
>  _Hello again! I am giving Yasha the keys so you don’t have to carry many cases from airport. If you are tired, please rest! Yura is also there, and will help._
> 
> **Mila-chan**  
>  _Hi Yuuri! I heard from Yuri! Viktor’s going to be so glad to see you! Try not to worry too much - he’s tough as nails :) Can’t wait to see you at the rink!_
> 
> **Georgi Popovich**  
>  _Heard your Visa came through - congrats! Looking forward to working together. Viktor’s missed you._
> 
> **Chris**  
>  _Hi Yuuri! I heard through the grapevine about the drama. Hope you’re doing alright, and Viktor gets better soon._

* * *

Yuuri didn’t know it was simply from anxious exhaustion or his flight medication that helped him sleep from china to Russia, but he was willing to bet it was a combination of both. His dreams certainly weren’t pleasant.

Makkachin was despondent too, but after he opened the door to the carrier and allowed her to lean her head against his legs, she was happier. Like him, she hated flying, and the journey was unfortunately long.

Both of them slept for the majority of the flight, but Yuuri woke up the last hour and a half before they were due to land, and he couldn’t help the worry eating away at him until the plane finally touched down.

Once heading through the gangway, he was finally able to turn his phone of aeroplane mode, and get an update from the slew of messages that had been sent during the flight.

He read the ones from Yuri and Ykaterina-san first, paying close attention to the message she had included from Viktor’s doctor. The explanation of what had happened, and assurance that Viktor would be alright lifted away a lot of the worry, but he still rushed through arrivals.

After collecting Makkachin, he made his way to the exit, vaguely recalling the way from his visits during juniors. Glancing around, he wondered if he should call Yuri or Yakov; he hadn’t had any stops after his flight, and hadn’t been able to reply. But he didn’t want to bother them - they would probably be rife with worry too.

As he was contemplating the taxi again, a familiar voice called out.

“Oi Katsudon! Over here!”

Head whipping in the direction, Yuuri jogged over with Makkachin’s lead in one hand and her travel carrier in the other towards the familiar blonde boy. Yuri had bags under his eyes, and he had been right about his looking thinner when the spoke on face time last, but he knew the shadows were new.

Dropping the carrier gently her pulled the teen into a hug, and unsurprisingly. (To Yuuri at least) he returned it full force. “Hey, thanks for coming to meet me,” He said. “How’d you get the flight number? I forgot to tell you.”

“Yakov called your dad - he still has the number for Hasetsu,” Yuri mumbled, before pulling away; Yuuri’s nose could detect the fain scent of his mate all over him. Viktor must have scented him before his heat.

Instinctively, he did the same before releasing the teen, gently brushing the inside of his wrist against Yuri’s neck. The lack of complaint made him start, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he handed Yuri Makkachin’s lead, and followed him outside.

Yakov was waiting in the car park, and after his pack and the carrier were stowed in the boot, he climbed into the passenger seat beside him. Yuri clamber into the back seat with Makkachin, and soon they were off.

“Thank you for coming to get me Mr Feltsman,” Yuuri said as they pulled into the road leading out of the airport carpark.; behind him he could hear Yuri cook on what sounded like laughter.

Yakov gave him a raised eyebrow before turning back to the road. “You’re not Russian yet, but you are one of my skaters now. Call me Yakov. And I don’t mind - it was either that or babysit

“I can look after myself!” Yuri growled from the backseat, absently scratching Makkachin behind her ears.

“You are a minor Yuri! You can’t stay at home by yourself while Katya is at the clinic!” Yakov snapped back, before pulling out onto the main road. “I thought you’d want a more recent update anyway, and Yuri hasn’t been to the hospital,” he added, speaking to Yuuri again.

Yuuri tensed. “Is Viktor alright? There wasn’t a relapse or something?”

“No, but I think the doctor wants to make a semi-suppressant using some of your hormones. The ones he made from your scent won’t last forever, and aren’t as strong as he’s like. Viktor’s fine for now, Katya said he wakes up every hour or so, but he won’t be skating until you two bond properly.”

“What?” Yuuri blinked. What did their bonding have to do with anything? The doctor Ykaterina-san had asked to message his had said their pre-bond was already very strong, but surely it wasn’t that strong?

“Dr. Lekov has run some tests, and he doesn’t think Viktor can go back on suppressants,” Yakov explained. “He’s been on them too long anyway, but he thinks because you both have a high level of hormone compatibility, his body will probably just reject them completely, and the RSU requires all unmated skaters to suppress.”

“It was really that bad?” Yuuri choked; was this his fault? If he had been here, would it have made a difference? “Is it… because my visa took so long?” He asked hesitantly.

“It probably hasn’t helped, but no, I’d gather if you’d been here the same thing would have happened. I know you two weren’t planning to spend his first heat together, so it would have happened regardless,” Yakov said bluntly. “Easier to solve, maybe, we could have just thrown you in his nest, but Viktor’s luck chose to go on break for once.”

Yuuri could accept that for now. He would probably continue to deal on it until he heard from Viktor’s doctor though.

The rest of the journey was passed in not-quite silence. Yuuri occasionally asked a few questions about what had happen, replies from the two Russians. Other times Yakov told him about the set up they would have once he and Viktor came to the rink for training. Or Yuri would lean forward and point out a landmark or feature of the city as they passed it with the same kind of touristy excitement Yuuri had before all the trouble began.

St. Petersburg was a beautiful city, and Yuuri knew he’d be hard pressed not to beg Viktor to take him to some of the palaces or on the river cruises. Yuri had seen a few, but the Moscow-born boy had an equal excitement about some of the things they passed that reminded Yuuri that he wasn’t born in the city either.

Before long they had passed the main parts of St Petersburg, and even passed the SCC where they would be training. It seemed like a big concrete round building at first, but Yuri assured him that was just one of the entrances. The actual rink was much nicer - ‘ _way better than damn Yubileyny_ ,’ he said, with the tone of rivalry and distaste on his tongue.

The rest of the journey didn’t take very long, and they pulled into a suburb. Yuri quickly got out of the car, with Makkachin, dashing into the house with his single bag, and the dog. He returned a few moments later, quickly jumping back into the backseat.

It spoke of how well they all really knew each other from competitions and routine observances through FaceTime that neither Russian bothered to ask if Yuuri would prefer to rest at the house first. They knew better; he wouldn’t be even think about relaxing until he had seen Viktor.

The drive from Viktor’s home - the front of which he had seen in a slew of photos and FaceTime tour of the house - somehow seemed to take longer than the drive from the airport had been, even though the distance was much shorter. Yuuri’s hands tugged at his sleeves and t-shirt hem, legs shaking in his comfy flight jeans, and after what felt like an age, Yakov pulled up I the car park of a small, well-kept building with simple Cyrillic on a brass plaque by the door.

Yuuri assumed it was a name - he recognised the English PhD acronym beside it as he followed Yakov and Yuri inside. The reception was quiet except for the night nurse, who nodded at Yakov as he passed her.

Beside him Yuri was quiet again, his lips crumpled and eyes staring past Yakov uncertainly. Yuuri could see the fear and anxiety mimicking his own, and silently put a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. It was one thing for him to tear himself up with anxiety on thousands of miles away, but Yuri had been her when Viktor took a turn for the worse.

As Yakov stopped outside a private room, he bade them wait until he had spoken to Ykaterina - ‘ _I don’t know if Dr. Lekov has limited visitors or not,_ ’ he explained. There were seats, and Yuuri gently directed Yuri to the sofa beside him.

He really was anxious, barley completed when the hand on his shoulder extended, wrapping an arm over his should, encouraging the younger boy to rest.

“It’s alright to be scared Yuri,” he said. “I’m terrified, and I wasn’t even there,” he added quietly, hoping he wasn’t pushing any boundaries.

“I know,” Yuri mumbled. “I _know_ that, I just… if this is what happens if you suppress, then I don’t want to do it,” he said, pulling a knee to his chest and leaning back into the supportive hold. “I…” he faltered. “I’d rather not skate at all.” he explained.

The admission threw Yuuri for a moment, but he recovered quickly; of course Yuri would be freaked out after seeing something like this. For all his bluster, he was close to Viktor, and if Yuri wasn’t happy with that, Viktor’s scent would be so calm and protective on him.

“Yuri, you don’t need to worry about this, you know that right?” Yuuri asked gently, stunned by the open trust, but consciously doing his best to accept rather than doubt where it was coming from. “Dr. Lekov text me form Ykaterina-san’s phone, and from what I gather, it’s mostly because we both have a good hormone match. You won’t have any problems like this when you present.”

“You don’t know that, my sister had a really bad first heat,” the teenager grumbled. “Viktor said his were awful before he started suppressants, but this is even worse! He couldn’t _breathe_ Katsudon! I had bags of frozen peas and carrots on his neck because it looked like _колбаса_!” He blurted, turning with a more frantic expression.

Yuuri had no idea what колбаса was but he was willing to bet it hadn’t been nice. “Yuri,” he said, turning a little and forcing his friend to look him in the eyes. “You don’t need to worry about this. It isn’t going to happen to you unless you’ve slept with someone. Have you?”

Yuri said nothing, but he looked exasperated. “No,” he mumbled. Something about Yuri’s eyes just avoiding his made Yuuri wonder what definition the teenager was going by (he’d used that trick to no avail with Phichit more than once), but he didn’t press. It wasn’t the time or issue (though he did backlog it in his mind to ask Viktor about later).

“Then this particular reaction won’t be something you’ll go through, I promise,” he said. “I can’t tell you from personal experience that they won’t be a pain to deal with sometimes, I’m not an omega, but if you need to talk about it, I’ll listen. I lived with Phichit for four years. He could be the poster boy for bad heats, but he’s completely fine. Your body isn’t built to do something it can’t handle Yuri,” he added, echoing Phichit’s words from earlier. “Viktor’s too; his just needs a bit extra help right now because the circumstances weren’t ideal.”

He wasn’t going to tell Yuri but he wasn’t stupid; once he’d presented he’d had dynamic education drilled into his skull by his teachers. He knew that stress could have an adverse effect on omegas, even worsen their heats. He’d seen it with Phichit, and he knew that with everything going on, there was no doubt Viktor had been under quite a lot of it lately.

Factoring in what Phichit had revealed earlier, his friend innocuous slip up, he wouldn’t be surprised if the news had only added to the problems.

“Chulanont? He’s an Omega?” Yuuri blinked. “I thought he was a beta. What do you mean bad? This bad?”

Yuuri snorted. “Everyone thinks he’s a beta until you check his social media,” he chuckled. “Phichit’s parents are traditional. A lot of Asian people are still on the fence about suppressants. Mine didn’t care, but I’m an Alpha, I have to take them in Japan by law, Phichit’s dads were really against them before he moved to America, and he wasn’t able to get them in Detroit without their consent either.”

“He doesn’t take them then?” Yuri asked looking mildly terrified, despite his earlier fear of having to take suppressants.

“Never has and never will. You can’t start after you turn 18, amongst other complications he’s had. He’s been hospitalised before too, and he was completely fine - a shot of testosterone and it was over. If you want to talk to someone about this, I can ask him if he’d talk to you.”

Yuri bit his lip, then nodded. Before he could ask anything else, or move, the door to the room opened. Immediately the two snapped their attention to Yakov and Ykaterina as they came out into the hall.

Viktor’s mother wasn’t much like her son - her hair was dark, black, and her body shape was rounder, her face more aquiline (though not as nearly as severe as Madame Baranovskaya’s). Her eyes were the exact same share though, and Yuuri quickly got to his feet as she came towards him.

“It’s good to finally meet you Ykaterina-san,” he said, bowing politely. His mind went blank, and though he was pretty sure bowing wasn’t a thing in Russia, it was habitual and Yuuri at least felt like his manners had been minded with the action. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”

This was the woman who was going to be his mother-in-law! Viktor’s _Mамочка_ , the person he’d talked the most beside Yakov and Yuri in Japan. The very last thing he wanted to do was be rude until Viktor could introduce them a little better. If he’d been more awake, he’d have been tearing himself apart with nerves on meeting someone so important to his fiancé.

Ykaterina barley waited until his back had straightened before pulling him into a firm, inescapable hug, lips pressing enthusiastically top each cheek. “You are silly. You call me Mамочка, or Katya,” she instructed sternly, direct, but a smile on her face all the same. “I’m glad to see you in person too!”

“I’ll try my best Ykat- Katya-san,” he said, unable to completely drop the honorific completely. Stepping back, she tried to give him a look of exasperation all parents seemed to know, but cut herself off, and yawned.

“I am sorry, I would like talk more, but much I’m very sleepy,” she sighed - Yuuri wasn’t surprised. “But I am very glad you’ve made it!” She gushed. “Viten’ka has been asleep for a while, but he dozes, so he might wake up. I’ll let Dr. Lekov know you’re here, but earlier he said you both should be close.”

She gave him another hug, and that was the end of his short first meeting with Ykaterina Kovalenko. As she headed out of the building with Yakov, Yuuri turned to the door, not wanting a moment.

* * *

The room was quiet and warm, with a raised nest frame in the centre of the room against one wall. It was big enough, and as Yuuri got closer he finally understood a little of what Yuuri meant when he said Viktor’s glands looked like whatever колбаса was.

The usually flat, almost invisible patches were raised and red as salami, any and purple almost, though it was obvious that the effects were less than what they had been earlier. Viktor’s hair was a little longer (like his own) and was messy, greased to his head at the roots, though someone had done their best to try wash it.

He was pale, worn-looking as everyone in a hospital tended to be until the left the building walls, and despite the breathing tube attached to his nose, his breathing was raspy. It sounder dry and hoarse, and Yuuri assumed it was probably painful. He dreaded to think how the rest of Viktor felt.

Carefully, not wanting to disturb him despite the message from Katya-san, Yuuri pulled off his thick winter anorak, with the padded lining Viktor had advised bringing before his flight. Then he pulled off his shirt, leaving the neatly on a chair.

With slow movements, he slid in beside Viktor, taking a spare blanket so he didn’t have to disturb those keeping his mate comfy. Some of his things were lining the side and surrounding the pillows, clearly brought to try and help keep Viktor at ease.

Moving slowly, he tucked one arm beneath his own head, and wrapped the other around his mate, trying to get as close as he could to Viktor’s back, hoping his scent would help. If Ykaterina wanted close, then hopefully this was enough.

He noticed Yuri watching from the door, and beckoned him in. He didn’t know if Yuri needed the sleep or not, but the sofa had a cabin bed within its base if he wanted to stay too.

Eyes going back to Viktor, the closeness of his scent nearly made him cry. It had been so long since they’d been together, since he’d seen his mate smile, heard his laugh, basked together in each other’s scent in bed before training…

“Oi, Katsudon,” curio breathed, jolting him back.

His attention had been called and the reason soon became clear as he felt the warm body under his arm shift, turning over, a rasping noise of confusion emerging.

Viktor turned, his eyes a little bleary and very tired, exhausted and somehow still frustrated. He blinked several times, and Yuuri knew from looking after Phichit after his bad times that he was probably still less reliant on his eyesight than he was on his nose. Viktor frowned for a few moments, trying to work out the gentle scent Yuuri had made sure to start releasing when he stepped into the room. Then they widened.

“I finally got my visa, I’m sorry I’m late Vitya,” he whispered as his mate reached a hand out, gripping tightly at his forearm. Yuuri returned it, holding him tight and pulling Viktor close as he reached out.

“Yuu-ri?,” Viktor croaked out, his voice so dry the syllables sounded neither Russian nor Japanese, he’d pressing into Yuuri’s shoulder as he wrapped both arms around his back and shoulders.

“Right here,” Yuuri mumbled, running his fingers through Viktor’s hair as he felt his shoulders shake. He knew he was crying, but he didn’t want Viktor to cry - he should rest! “I missed you so much,” he mumbled.

“Дa,” Viktor choked out in reply.

It felt as though he was trying to burrow straight into him, and Yuuri didn’t dare stop him. After being apart for so long, and faced with his obviously vulnerable partner, his hindbrain was screaming every five minutes that he needed to keep watch, be on guard in case of _danger_ , keep Viktor _safe_.

He knew Viktor was tired, knew how much he had been through, but he also needed to make sure he wasn’t worrying too.

“Витя,” he started. “I just found out before my flight from Shanghai that Phichit told you about our pack bond.” He felt a slight tense in Viktor’s shoulders, but had been expecting it. “I promise, once you’re more alert, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Right now, I just want you to know that’s all its ever been and will be. I love you, I don’t want anyone else.”

The effect was immediate; Viktor’s shoulders seemed to drop half their weight in his arms, and his mate pulled his head back, his eyes more focused despite exhaustion. Yuuri’s eyes widened at the exposed neck, but the pleading look in Viktor’s eyes robbed him of his rationale.

It probably wasn’t a good idea, and Yuuri was sure he heard Yuri making a strangled sound of revulsion, but Viktor wanted reassurance. Yuuri had been absent for his heat, and he was clearly unsettled not just on a biological level.

Gently, Yuuri lapped at his glands with his lips and Tongue. Not in a sexual manner, carefully. Just enough for his scent to mingle with Viktor’s, wrap around like a blanket. This was for comfort.

It didn’t take long, and once done, Viktor seemed much less anxious, and finally looked over to Yuri. He smiled for a faint second, then gestured limply at the spot in the nest beside him.

Yuri moved faster than Yuuri had ever seen him move off the ice. After clambering into the nest, Yuuri shuffled to the side so Viktor could have the space to pull the teen close, let his sent seep onto and reassure his rink mate, even if he couldn’t scent him directly.

He mumbled something in Russian, and Yuri hesitantly nodded. Viktor then sated at him expectantly, as the teenaged flushed a little, exposing the neck of his t-shirt. Understanding (and in a way, flattered that Yuri was willing to trust him so much), he waited until Viktor had coaxed Yuri between them before gently reaching over with the inside of his first and brushing his wrist against his scent gland.

The scent left behind mingled with Viktor’s, and it made all three of them relax a little more. Yuuri knew there would be a lot of talking to do, but for now, Viktor was content, safe, and hopefully happy with him and their unexpected cub.

Relief and exhaustion catching up with all of them, they fell to sleep in moments.

* * *

 

[Дeдушка - Dedushka, Grandpa.]

[Мила - Mila.]

[Лена - Lena, diminutive for Yelena.]

[Яков - Yakov.]

[บ๊ายบาย - baibai, goodbye, bye bye]

[колбаса - _Kolbasa_. Word for salami, and other sausage-like foods.]

[Дa - ok, yes, sure, etc.]

[Витя -Vitya, diminutive for Viktor].

* * *

 

FINALLY. They were so stubborn but finally! More communication next chapter. It's not a kink but it should be ~~or is it?~~

Just to clarify in case its not clear, Yuuri is not scenting Yuri P. as a sexual partner, this isn't going to be a threesome. It's familial, and this is very much a step towards Yuri joining his and Viktor's pack. I'm pretty sure that comes across, but just in case, and there will be nothing underage.

Hope the longer chapter makes up for the delay. Not beta-ed yet.

Many thanks to [@orangscarfblueglasses](https://orangescarfblueglasses.tumblr.com/) for correcting and ensuring the Russian language is not butchered by my blatant ineptitude. Many, many thanks! She also has some _wonderful_ resources for YOI fandom writers for St. Petersburg!


	11. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuuri and Yura both have moments of honesty, and all their lives begin to take shape.

The change in Viktor’s condition after Yuuri’s arrival was drastic and fantastic. His body settled within hours, and though he was still sore and achy, and worn out when he awoke the next day, the lingering anxiousness in his hindbrain was gone.

Instead, it was replaced by a purring contentment that could only come from the presence of his mate. Yuuri was a constant presence while he recovered, lathering the scent swabs the doctors brought to make a hormone neutraliser for Viktor liberally over his wrist and neck, and doing the same to the temporary nest in an effort to help Viktor feel more relaxed.

After another day, the swelling in Viktor’s neck and throat and glands was gone completely, and his vision was completely back to normal. The only thing giving him any grief was the usual cramps and menstruation that came after a heat, and ravenous return of his appetite.

After several days on fluids, or fasting as his heat hit, he devoured the food his mother brought up to the hospital, and then more of it when they finally returned home. He couldn’t help feeling a sense of the surreal, watching Yuuri learning his way around Viktor’s childhood home, but there was something about that by itself that helped reassure and settle his hindbrain.

He remembered what Yuuri had told him, on that first night when he arrived at the hospital jet-lagged and exhausted from travel and worry. For now, he was happy with the words. They had mentioned it a little - a few things like the revelation of Phichit’s mate, had gone a lowing way to cementing his assurance that Yuuri was telling him the truth.

“Are you feeling okay?” Yuuri asked.

They were currently in his bedroom, reforming Viktor’s nest together; it would be several days before Viktor’s urge to gather every soft thing he could find faded, and with Yuuri finally here, it had only peaked again. His hindbrain was adamant that he showed it off, encourage the alpha to share it, _scent_ it.

Dr. Lekov had spoken to them both before leaving the hospital, warning them both that even bonding outside of a heat could cause a reactive one that his body would not take kindly to, and to avoid any physical intimacy until the nesting urges had faded.

Viktor had let out a cry of strangled frustration, but Yuuri absorbed every word, nodding along dutifully. He could only take solace in the fact that Dr. Lekov had told them it would be better to bond sooner rather than later, and they were free to book another appointment after the nesting urges had passed.

“I’m alright,” Viktor said flopping back against one of the piles of fan plushies that had been used to bolster pillows and blankets. “I must admit, I was expecting worse after a heat that, but the painkillers earlier did the trick,” he said, referring to the earlier bout of cramps that had been severe enough that he wanted to hide in his nest with Yuuri.

They had been home for several days now. His mother had been over the moon to finally meet Yuuri properly, and his poor mate had been two parts happy, two parts overwhelmed, and one part lost on how to talk to his mother.

Despite how much she tried, he refused to call her anything but Katya-san, even when he was feeling less intimidated and more relaxed. Viktor had to try explaining the workings of Japanese honorifics (which still confused _him_ sometimes), but his mother still tried to convince Yuuri to use one of her diminutives.

Yuuri had also met Gosha, and to Viktor’s utmost consternation the damn bird absolutely _adored_ his fiancé. His mother had taken him out of the cage at dinner, and after a gentle stroke of a finger over his feathers, the heathen bird had decided to make Yuuri’s shoulder his roosting spot for the entire meal.

He had his Makkachin though, and the second he had walked through the door she had bounded up to him in absolute delight. He’d spent a good hour on the sofa cuddled up with his dog his first night back, and Makkachin had stayed glued to his side ever since.

She was currently curled up in a spot at the base of his nest which she had claimed many years previously. Yuri was at the rink practicing, but Viktor had a feeling that was more to avoid him and Yuuri after they had brought him into their pack than for any enthusiasm to train while his jumps were starting to get dodgy.

“Think we should go meet Yuri at the rink today?” Yuuri asked, drawing his wrists over a pillow Viktor had just handed him. “Before we go up to the apartment? He should see it too.”

“Probably a good idea,” Yuuri reasoned. “He’ll just keep avoiding us otherwise.”

“You’ll have to drive,” Viktor reminded, taking the pillow and placing it carefully in the nest. “I can’t drive again until my heat ends fully - you got your licence fast tracked too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ll say this for the Russian government, when they don’t want to give a bad impression they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops for you,” Yuuri nodded. "Either that or Yoshida-san has more balls than both of us put together."

Today they were going up to look at the flat together (hopefully with Yuri too) and going out to get some sample paints for the decorators. They also wanted to broach what was inevitably going to be a sensitive subject with their ‘ _pup_ ’.

After talking about it, knowing they both wanted to keep skating for another year at least made it obvious they weren’t going to have any pups of their own for a while yet.

They had originally planned on keeping the spare room for a nursery for when that time came, and using it for holding skating equipment in the meantime. Yuri however had changed things. It was obvious to both adults that he was struggling to cope with so much pressure by himself, and they both felt that offering him the option of living with them was a much better use of the room.

Having allowed them both to scent him spoke volumes for his mind-set; Viktor and Yuuri had phoned his grandfather, and to say the man was relieved was an understatement. ‘ _I can be here for the girls, but Yuri needs someone besides his coaches to be there for him. He’s not the kind who can mix his professional and personal life well,_ ’ he said on the phone. ‘ _When he told me he’d let you scent him, it was reassuring. You are both very good people, and I know you will look after him. He trusts you after all, and that’s not easily earned for adults with him._ ’

He had promised to send them some of the pack paperwork, and there had been a chorus of ‘ _thank you for looking after our brother!_ ’ from Yuri’s sisters in the background. They still had to figure out what was going to happen after he and Yuuri bonded, but they were hoping Yuri would want to stay in a pack with them.

Viktor for one was attached to his young rink mate, and understood what Nikolai meant. Yuri was very much like him, once upon a time, and if he could help the teenager avoid making the same mistakes he did, then Viktor wanted to take the opportunity.

Yuuri felt the same, and Viktor knew that if he already had a packbond with Phichit then including Yuri wouldn’t be much of a stretch. It appealed to his hindbrain instincts after all, and if he already had experience adding a friend to his pack, he shouldn’t be too anxious about adding Yuri.

“I’d put my money on Yoshida,” Viktor chuckled, finally satisfied with the nest and cuddling closer to his mate. Before thinking about Yuri, or Phichit for that matter, there was something else Viktor needed to talk to him about. “Yuuri,” he said, catching his alpha’s attention. “Can I ask something?”

“Of course,” Yuuri said, wrapping his arm over Viktor’s waist and leaning into the walls of the nest so that they could lie together more comfortably. “What is it?” He asked his brown eyes close enough that Viktor could see the slight dilation in the pupils that happened each time Yuuri caught his scent (he felt fuzzy knowing he had such an effect on his fiancé).

Viktor took a breath. How to _word_ this in English exactly?

“Before I flew to Russia…” he began awkwardly. “When we were still in Japan, you seemed… not disinterested in our physical relationship, but you didn’t seem comfortable with some things,” he said, deciding to go straight to the point. It would make the whole awkward conversation easier. “Is that… Did I do something? I just, I thought it was me, but you never seemed to have a problem attending to my needs, and then when we had that phone call, I could tell you weren’t holding back like before,” he explained.

He’d looked up several different things on the internet regarding dynamics in Japan and the only thing he could possibly relate to the situation which Yuuri might subscribe to was the idea of ‘ _Scent Speak_ ’. Apparently, it was a prevailing ideology in Japan, the idea that there were layers and specific tones to a person’s scent that people used as indicators for relationship milestones.

He’d even heard Mari teasing Yuuri about it before, asking her little brother if Viktor’s scent had changed yet (‘ _…because I can tell yours has. Your crush is adorable Yuuri. You really should just ask Viktor if he’d let you court him, I’m sure he’d be overjoyed._ ’). The conversation in deliberate English, after the cup of china when Yuuri was anxious and unsure of their relationship anymore, had been Mari’s way of telling Viktor to man up and clear the air, or at least try and communicate with the shy alpha he adored so much.

But the more he’d thought about it. The less he thought it was right.

“Oh, that…” Yuuri mumbled, eyes widening in understanding. “…I never thought. Viktor, I’m sorry, I should have explained better,” he sighed. “Do you remember that form you had to sign after we started courting? It was in English, the one Mari got from the WHO website about your heats and things. While I was still at Rostelecom?”

“Vaguely, it was about appointing or hiring an alpha, but those are standard, aren’t they? Everyone signs those things,” Viktor shrugged.

“I know, but they’re a bit different in Japan,” Yuuri said. “There used to be a lot of abuse, like everywhere I guess, so the government put a lot of rules in around them so that alphas couldn’t use them to take advantage of omegas like before, amongst a bunch of other things, like how the compulsion registry is so strict.” He explained. “Part of our suppressants contains drug that is kind of leeched into our skin, and we get check-ups every six months to… its not tracking but, I guess it tells the doctors and omegologist if we’ve knotted or used infliction.”

Viktor stared; he’d heard of the abuse that Yuuri spoke about of course. Russia had its own share as every country across the world did; Viktor’s skating debut and been one that coincided with the rise of omega rights in the country, and for years, he’d been the only senior level Russian omega in skating until Mila joined the rink.

Japan was just the same. Even now, it was still a bit different in its approach to secondary gender relations. It was in a minority of countries which had not only broadened things for omegas, but had also restricted alphas. Not dangerously, or to the same degree as omegas had been in the past, but enough that other countries raised an eyebrow, and every so often a well-meaning activist would criticise.

“But to get to the point,” Yuuri continued. “Even though you signed the form, it would still be illegal for me to knot you before we bonded, even if we are pre-bonded, outside of approved dates, since we can’t avoid it forever. Then it’s okay - omegas can appoint their bondmates, like for heats, and then the alpha can put in a note to their doctor, and everything okay. Once your mated, you don’t have to either.”

He stopped, another thought crossing his mind. “That probably sounds really old fashioned, but it really is just for alphas. Once you have a bond mate, it’s really easy just to sign the paperwork and send it off. You don’t even have to do it in advance, you can send it off the day of, and as long as the doctors get it before the alphas next check-up everything's fine, and they're about every three months, same as normal suppressant checks” he explained. “But you can’t do it without an omega or betas approval - they have to sign the form too. Even Alpha heat workers aren’t exempt; they take drugs to suppress theirs to the barest amount. They have to be approved though, and normal people can’t get them, so… it’s easier to just… not indulge. Compulsion laws are even stricter. I think only alphas that work in emergency services have a blanket approval for it, and even then, some politicians want to ban that too."

“I had no idea; why didn’t anyone tell me that? Mari gave me that form when I came back to see Makkachin, surely she would have said something?” Viktor asked. “That sounds horrible - and I was _throwing_ myself at you every moment because I was worried you went interested!"

“The suppressants helped,” Yuuri shrugged. “As for why no one said anything… I guess she thought you already knew, though why I don’t know. It’s not something that comes up in conversation much. Since you never said anything, I figured you didn’t, but I felt awkward bringing it up, it’s such a hassle after all, even if it does work. In its own convoluted way."

Viktor could at least concede that; he had read a few articles citing Japan as having one of the lowest rate of secondary gender crime rates. If the laws were this strict, he honestly wasn’t surprised. He was surprised mobs of protesters weren’t gathered outside the Japanese diet building though.

“We hadn’t been together - physically at least - for that long, and I didn’t want to possibly make you uncomfortable talking about it. It’s not like it bothers me much, up till before you flew back home, and I started weaning myself of the suppressants, I didn’t even get a knot before… though I guess that was probably part of the problem?”

“I did wonder for a while if you weren’t interested, but then things got frisky the night after the final, so I assumed you’d just been waiting for our scents to… match? Is that the right term?”

 Viktor’s understanding of the layers Yuuri’s countrymen put into scent was minimal. Scent was scent. How there could be specific signals in it wasn’t something he was sure he believed, but he could tell the Katsuki family - traditional to the core - did, so he’d done his best to try and understand after he’d heard Mari talking about it.

“That happened way before the final,” Yuuri said, confirming Viktor’s guest that Yuuri believed in _kasane no nioi,_ as the transliterated English had read on his online encyclopaedia. “Matching is the best word I guess, but it’s not exactly right. I can explain it some other time though. After the final, I was just…. a bit anxious. We hadn’t done anything like that before, and even though you knew that you were the only person I’ve ever been with, I was just… nervous. I just wasn’t ready till then…”

Yuuri sighed and pressed his forehead in towards Viktor’s, resting it gently where he could be close, feel the warmth of Yuuri’s skin and see the anxious flush on his cheeks. “Thank you for being so patient with me Viktor,” he said. “I wish I could have told you sooner though - I feel awful for worrying you,” he frowned.

Viktor managed to chuckle. “I’m just as guilty I’m afraid - I knew you weren’t ready to take that step, and after the car park incident in China, I knew better than to push you, so… I thought after that you might just be nervous, but you overcame that very quickly, “he winked - Yuuri flushed red. “I was worried I’d unsettle you by asking.”

Yuuri stared at him, then Viktor sunk his head to rest against Yuuri’s shoulder, a sigh of defeat escaping his lips, trying to focus on the nice, consistent hold of Yuuri’s arms around him and his gentle scent rather the exasperated realisation that he could have saved himself quite a bit of turmoil just by asking this earlier.

“Would it be entirely wrong of me to say that were both as bad as each other?” Yuuri joked, shifting and brushing a hand over the glands hidden beneath skin on the small of Viktor’s back as the omega in his arms whined in frustration.

“If by that, you mean were both idiots, then yes, I’m quite happy to agree with you there,” Viktor mumbled purring into the gentle attention and trying not to whine, feeling a little sorry for himself when his guts churned alongside the revelations of their talk. “So, to clarify, you _do_ want to knot me, and your inhibition to me reciprocating anything sexual you've done for me _isn't_ a representation of lowered sexual attraction?”

Yuuri growled - a sound which was not as fierce as some Viktor had heard. Yuuri was always gentle even when he growled; his voice got deeper, but warm, not crass. His hold tightened, and he felt Yuuri's lips ghosting over his neck. “Viktor, if I could mark you right now I'd- Of _course_ I do, you’re my mate. How could I _not_ want to? I’ve been jerking off to the thought of it for months,” he said, in that same low tone and with warm, promising tones that sent a flare of warmth through Viktor’s groin, and still managing to sound like the shy, beautiful Yuuri he loved so much.

“Maybe you should,” he suggested, not entirely jokingly. “I’d let you. Any way you want Yuuri, I’d be so good for you,” he teased; the slight strangled whimper Yuuri tried to choke back told him he’d succeeded. “I’d let you claim me completely Yuuri, properly. You can bite me, mark me from head to toe, and I want to hear what your voice sounds like when you’re using infliction,” he purred.

Maybe it was the insecurities talking up, maybe it was the aftermath of his heat that had always made him a little feisty when he was menstruating, or maybe it was his hindbrain, but the worshippers were no lie. Viktor wanted his alpha to own him, come out of his shell and just take like he knew he could, and he knew Yuuri wanted that too.

Yuuri was never pushy or so overt it was distasteful, but Viktor had dated a couple of alphas in the past, seen others with their partner’s, and Yuuri was definitely up among the possessive types. Probably because of his own insecurities. Viktor adored the way he would always follow him with his eyes when an alpha reporter got too close at competitions, and how Yuuri always made sure to let a little of his scent surround them in public, and ward off any unwanted attention.

Yuuri’s scent wasn’t obvious, but it was firm, and once noticed, it was very clearly that of a strong alpha, one who had staked a claim on him. It made his hindbrain purr in absolute delight.

"I want your mark so much Yuuri, I don't think you realise how much I think about it. I want to know how our scents will mix," Viktor sighed, arching his neck a little seductively. Yuuri made another noise.

"If you keep talking like that, we'll never get to the flat this afternoon," he said, his voice slightly strangled.

“Good, I approve of that plan,” Viktor beamed.

“Dr Lekov won’t,” Yuuri said, leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

“You and your reasonableness,” Viktor sighed, returning the kiss fondly before slumping for a moment, then stretching out and rolling off his mate. “You’re right though, we should get up to the rink.”

* * *

It took persuading himself to leave his nest (and a quick trip to the toilet just in case) but they were soon in the car, through Viktor had to quickly switch on the dash cam and hit the locks before his blissfully unconcerned alpha drove off - Viktor had been lucky enough that he’d never had an incident since he’d got his licence, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Are the locks really necessary?” Yuuri blinked as he pulled out of the drive and onto the road.

“Don’t underestimate road rage Yuuri - Yakov kept a crow bar in the footwell before dash cams got popular,” Viktor said with complete sincerity; he didn’t add that he seen him hold it up threateningly a couple of times. Ele it would be the flight fear all over again no doubt. “Now it’s just on the back seat.”

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“Not a bit,” Viktor assured him. “Don’t ever drive off without turning on the dash cam, rolling up the windows, or locking the doors. And all your papers,” he added. “Unless you want to be short five thousand roubles if you get pulled over to avoid a ticket.”

“Why am I driving again?” Yuuri asked, suddenly stiffer in his seat as he glued his eyes to the traffic.

“Because medically, I can’t drive again until my heat is completely out of my system, which if that last one was any indicator, won’t be for another week,” Viktor reminded.

It was one of those common-but-contested laws, but Viktor didn’t mind it. Heats died down in flashes, coming back with intense period of arousal and blasting scent to make sure an alpha drawn in by the scent would linger. That could be potentially dangerous, especially on Russia’s roads (Viktor had to admit, he missed driving in Japan, after he had got used to it at least), and he didn’t want to put himself in that possible position if he didn’t have to.

Yuuri was a better driver anyway, he’d been driving longer to help out with deliveries and supplies for the onsen while he was still in Japan, and from Phichit’s Instagram, he’d also been the driver of their clapped-out car in Detroit.

Viktor had only bothered to get his licence the season before of the Sochi GPF Final. He’d never really needed a car given how close his apartment was to the rink. It was just another one of those things he’d ignored for his skating career until he met Yuuri.

"Do you think he's upset?" Yuuri asked. "Yuri. I mean," he added, slowing to a halt at a set of tragic lights before one of the city's many bridges.

Viktor raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "I'm not sure - his family life is difficult but I can't really say more than that. He's never told anyone the exact circumstances, except maybe Yakov, but he uses most of his funding to support them. Hence his current predicament," he explained.

"I just, it's one thing for you to scent him - but for me..." Yuuri broke of, frowning over his words, unsure how to phrase them.

"Yuri is complicated, but he's also simple," Viktor assured him. "If he wasn't happy for you to scent him too, he wouldn't have let you. He's probably a bit confused, but I doubt that's the source of it," he added, watching the bridge raising itself for the oncoming boat.

Yuuri let out a sigh of worry. "If I didn't know how mature he actually is, I'd say it was a bad idea, but I keep forgetting the bonding age here is lower - I keep thinking it's illegal, like..." he trailed off, eyes going back to the bridge; it had lowered, and the lights had changed, and Yuuri quickly got back into driving mode.

His words drew Viktor's attention though. Yuuri had been about to refer to his Pack bond with Phichit, and the nagging curiosity came back. It was something they hadn't talked about yet, Yuuri's previous experiences with it. Viktor was currently dated with what Yuuri had told him at the hospital, but he knew they couldn't leave a better explanation for much longer.

The car certainly wasn't the place for it, but the words couldn't help but make him curious. His mates concern for Yuri was obviously stemming from his previous Pack bond (well, current really), and Viktor couldn't help but wonder why.

"You were underage when you and Phichit bonded?" Viktor asked, voice calm and only curious.

Yuuri gave him a glance and shook his head as they headed through another set of lights. "Well, I wasn't. I was already 21, but Phichit was still 17, and any bond is still set to 18 without parental consent in Thailand, same as Japan. We _did_ get all the forms from his parents filled out but... the situation at the time meant he was desperate, so it wasn't exactly typical either. We could have got into more trouble than we did," he said. “Yuri’s situation is different, but still. Just because it's ok, I don't want to push him into this if it's not what he's ready for."

"You won't," Viktor smiled, taking his hand for a moment, squeezing all his reassurance into the brief grip. "You haven't," he promised. Yuuri shot him a grateful look, and before long they had pulled up at the rink car park, though not without getting stuck in traffic, or Viktor's pain killers wearing off.

"Can you ask Yakov for some co-codamol? Or ibuprofen, I think my uterus is about to commit suicide," Viktor asked as his mate moved to get out of the car - he had no plans of moving at the moment, curling up in a ball on the passenger seat sounded like a better idea. "Morphine would be fantastic."

Yuuri chuckled, and leaned over to press his lips to his forehead before feeling the temperature with his hand. "Are you feeling okay? You don't smell like you’re having a flux, is it just cramps?" He asked.

"Just cramps," Viktor nodded, sighing a little before leaning his head into Yuri's gentle hand - his mates scent was almost as much help as the painkillers. "Scent me a little?" Viktor asked, and Yuuri dutifully pressed his wrists to his neck, slathering it in fresh scent. Then he leaned over and kissed him properly.

"I'll see what Yakov has," he promised.

Whilst Yuuri disappeared into SCC, Viktor pondered what he had mentioned regarding Phichit. If anything, it just made the whole thing sound more confusing and ominous. There was definitely more to it than what either Phichit or Yuuri had revealed so far, and his brain couldn't fathom what might make him so nervous about the subject, besides the fact that there was an obvious secret being kept somewhere.

Viktor refused to let it make him anxious however; Yuuri had just gone in looking for their pup and pain killers for his god-awful cramps, and had promised to explain it. It was all up to Viktor to decide when he wanted to know, and for now he would wait.

Mere minutes later, Yuuri returned with Yuri in tow, babbling along beside him about something; judging by the grumpy expression, it was probably about Yakov.

"What's wrong with you?" Yuri asked once he'd climbed in behind Viktor on the back seats. "Katsudon said you needed painkillers," he said handing a small bag from his skating kit and a bottle of water through to the front. "You look like you want to murder someone."

"It's after-heat and cramps," Viktor said, quickly rifling through the offered first aid kit for something and downing a couple of pills that he recognised. "We need to go over to the flat before we go home - mind tagging along? A fresh set of eyes wouldn't go amiss."

"Sure, whatever, when are you two finally getting back to practice? Yakov wouldn't say. I thought he was joking in the car about the bonding thing," the teenager grumbled, quickly pulling on his seatbelt when Yuuri sat back and crossed his arms, patient but still raising an eyebrow at the teenager.

"I'm going to call him tomorrow and try and figure something out, since Dr. Lekov isn't keen on us doing it outside of my heats right now," Viktor explained, watching Yuri in the mirror. "How's your grandfather? Sisters?" He asked.

"They're fine," Yuri mumbled, flushing before going into his bag and pulling out a folder. "G-Grandpa called and told me to give you both those," he said, passing the folder through to Viktor.

Opening it, Viktor's eyebrows shot up when he recognised the birth certificate and other documents behind the first - a Pack registry form. Yuri had gone out by himself to collect it! Was that why he'd disappeared? Catching Yuuri's confused glance he gave a short explanation, and his mates eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Yura," he said, glancing to the boy in the mirror momentarily. "Are you sure? If you aren't, it's okay, you know that, don't you? You don't have to sign one of those just because of us," he said. "I mean, that's not to say we don't want you in our Pack, we do, but I just want you to be sure."

"Huh?" Yuri blinked. "Of course, I am - why would I give you this stuff otherwise?"

"Yuuri just wants to make sure you're comfortable having his scent," Viktor said placatingly. "He's has only been her a few days, and Pack laws are stricter in Japan, plus Yuuri's Pack isn't just me and his family. Phichit is part of it too."

"And Seung-Gil Lee," Yuuri. "Sort of. Not like Phichit, but they are mates so he sort-of counts, technically," he glanced to Viktor. "It's very complicated," he sighed.

“I completely forgot about that, but if they aren’t bonded yet, then in suppose it does make sense, “Viktor mused, patting Yuuri's knee to reassure him that he wasn’t angry. It was fairly standard, for an omega’s pack leader to share their pack scent with an alpha who was a prospective mate as a show of goodwill, and it was exactly what Viktor’s mother Yúliya would have done to Yuuri if she had still been alive, no doubt.

“Huh? How big is your pack katsudon?” Yuuri blinked.

“If I include you and Viktor, five people, not including Mari or my parents,” Yuuri said, so pointedly Viktor couldn’t help but notice he said five, not four. “That’s why I want you to be sure about this. Joining a pack is for keeps. If there’s a chance you’ll regret it, I’d rather you take the time to think about it.”

“I agree,” Viktor nodded, trying not to sound as dismal as his insides were making him feel. “It’s not that we don’t want you, but rather we don’t want you to not want us. We’d be part of your scent. Are you sure you want to be part of our pack?” He asked, gently but equally serious.

Yuri, whose expression had been somewhat temperamental till that pint, softened, his face relaxing with the release of a weight unknown to the couple. “I’m sure,” he repeated. “I don’t want to not be. It sucked while Katsudon was stuck in Japan, and your heat-” Yuri bit his lip, and he purposely looked out of the window. “I know what I’m asking, OK? It’s fine. It’s… what I want.”

“Then I have no more concerns,” Yuuri said, smiling through to the backseat as they pulled up in front of the apartment complex. Viktor had almost forgotten how close it was to the rink - they wouldn’t even need to drive every day.

“I thought we had underground parking?” Viktor asked.

“I don’t know how to get to it yet,” Yuuri said sheepishly. “And we shouldn’t be too long. Feeling okay?” He asked.

“Walking is the curse of the devil, but I’ll suffer,” Viktor sighed. “Unless you want to carry me?” He grinned.

“Ugh, let’s go, I want to see this place,” Yuri said, clambering out of the car and waiting patiently, but also impatiently by the steps up to the main entrance.

After forcing himself out of the car (he wasn’t joking about walking being a hell-send) Viktor joined him as Yuuri locked up the car. Fumbling with the login code, he led them to the lift, and soon they were several floors up. Yuuri had the key to the door on Viktor’s car keys (they still hadn’t got a duplicate) so he was the one to unlock flat 72.

There was a small hallway, which went around the corner to the main living space, and Viktor held the door open for Yuri as his blonde head switched around in curiosity at the bland show space. “We’re planning on decorating,” Viktor added. “It looks cold.”

“It looks exactly like your old flat,” Yuri snorted.

“Exactly,” Viktor sighed, watching as Yuri poked his head curiously into the heat room directly left of the door from the hallway, giving a whistle of appreciation at the connecting wet room. “Its owned by the same company, so not too surprising.”

“It’s so much bigger than it looked on the phone,” Yuuri said, wandering to the back of the room to the kitchen area. “But it’s nice - it’ll definitely be big enough for the three of us” he smiled, before heading to inspect the main bedroom.

The words carried easily in the bland, sparse decorated apartment, and Yuri poked his head out from the heat room with confusion all over his face. “What do you mean the three of us?” He demanded.

Viktor, who had already seen the flat, and had sunk down on to the display sofa, beamed. “The room next door to the heat room, it’s yours,” he said. “If you want it, obviously.”

“We’ve been talking about it,” Yuuri said comping back through and leaning on the back of the sofa, just behind Viktor as he two grinned. “We probably won’t be having any pups for a while, not in the immediate sure at least, so the only thing we could really use that room for is storing skating equipment and Viktor’s medals,” he began, as Yuri gave them more confused glances as he went to look at the spare room.

It wasn’t as big as the master bedroom, but there was plenty of space for a desk, single bed, or nest frame and a few other bits, a dresser, or a teenage boy.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be popping any pups out for at least another two seasons if this is the backlash until I get one,” Viktor chuckled. “We were going to offer anyway, but this seemed a good time to tell you. This way, you can pick whatever crazy wallpaper you want.”

“Y-You really mean it?” Yuri stared, looking back at them from the blank room, shock covering his face, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. “J-Just because you’ve let me join you guys… you don’t have to-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence Yuri,” Viktor’s mate cut in quickly, leaving the sofa and going to the teen. “As if we’d do something like that! You’re a part of us now, that means you have a place here. Always, just like there’s always a room for you at the onsen,” he reiterated.

“Yuuri’s right! If you want it, it’s yours,” Viktor insisted, pausing before getting up and joining his mate next to Yuri. “We aren’t offering just out of charity Yura,” he added. “We meant it when we asked if you wanted to be part of our pack, though if that helps take away some of your worries, then that’s a welcome addition to the offer.”

Yuri stared between them both, trying to find perhaps some sign that this was a horrible set up or joke. “You’re serious…” he choked, eyes glassy.

Yuuri nodded. “Completely. If you need some time to think about it, that’s perfectly fi-” his words were cut off by the armload of sobbing teenager that launched at the alpha, and had to bolster his feet to keep standing up.

“Do it” Yuri sniffled, his arms tighten Yuuri’s shoulders, no longer trying to maintain any composure; Yuuri’s eyes widened, and he glanced to Viktor unsure.

“I’ll sign those papers,” Viktor smiled, leaning in for a moment to scent the top of Yura’s head, before giving the pair some privacy. Yuri had his own relationship with his mate that was founded out of mutual respect, and even a pack bond mark demanded a certain amount of privacy.

He didn’t need to give Yura a mark to keep his scent on him, but for Yuuri, it was different - omega scent was absorbed by the glands with comparative ease. Scenting was all that was needed, and if it was maintained long enough it would be permanent. Alpha scent was designed to be temporary unless it was given extra help through marks, saliva absorbed and translated into the bloodstream.

 Viktor didn’t want to make their newest pack addition uncomfortable by watching what was usually a private, and probably awkwardly clumsy moment., so he found the registration files and began to scribble his looping cursive signature onto them in black pen.

By the time he’d gone through the full set of documents, they were done, and Yuuri had dug a first aid kit out of the cupboard (which Viktor presumed was there for health and safety regulations), and put a dressing on the small scar now on Yura’s shoulder, just down from the junction of his neck (not on his scent gland - that was for mating bonds only).

Looking up Viktor handed Yuuri the folder to sign to, and held an arm out to Yura. “Oooff, no elbows on the guts today, please,” he pleaded, wincing as Yura’s quick burrow onto the sofa against him went of course a little.

“Sorry,” Yura mumbled, his face still a little red and eyes a little wet and Viktor pulled him into a hug, gently nuzzling his glands, adding a bit more of his own scent to the mark. He and Yuuri were pre-bonded, so their scents were already combined, but his hindbrain nagged that he too needed to claim this pup their alpha had chosen, and he did so without a hint of resistance.

“So, I’m guessing leopard print?” Yuuri asked, sitting on the other end of the sofa, still flicking through the first of the documents (Yura had clearly thought ahead, because he’d got an English version instead of Russian). “If we can’t get wallpaper, we could always get the decorators some stencils,” he mused.

“Not the whole room,” Yuri said haltingly, a bit subdued by the onslaught of comforting, supportive scent now following him. “Just one wall, then something to match.”

“That’s a better idea,” Viktor nodded, digging out a notepad they’d brought to put down things like this. “I want that Pantone shade I showed you the other day for the heat room,” Viktor said, leaning his chin onto of Yuri’s head (whom he knew would die of embarrassment if anyone ever revealed he was purring right now). “The one I showed you the other day. The wine pink colour. It needs to feel warm in there, so Yuuri, you should pick the colour for our bedroom.”

Yuuri glanced up from more of his signatory scribbles. “Blues maybe? And a dark brown, like a chocolate colour. Or would that be better for this part?” He gestured to the sofa space. “You said you wanted to put a wall up between this and the kitchen, didn’t you? Can we afford it?”

“There was some leeway in the asking price, so yes, we won’t be dipping into anything outside of the housing pot - I just don’t want the smell getting everywhere. Garlic and things. It’s what I hated about my old apartment. If I made borscht everything would stink of beetroot for weeks,” Viktor said. “I like that for her though, but you still need you pick something for the bedroom.”

And so, for the next few hours, they sat and talked, Yuri sticking close as they moved around to check individual things in each room that needed correcting, removing, or just altering. They talked about tiles instead of floorboards, refitting of the lights, check on the shower installation still underway, a better alarm system, and floor to ceiling wardrobes.

It was boring, but it was the start of a home, and no frowns were present as they talked. Viktor watched Yura following his mate as they made their way back to the car, and couldn’t help beaming at the sight. Being able to help Yuri was a good feeling, but having the underpinning knowledge that he carried their scent now was five times better.

If he hadn’t met Yuuri, he wondered if he’d feel the same way - while Yura had been a rink mate, they hadn’t been quite this close before the twins uploaded that fateful video, and Viktor dropped his life for the man he’d met at the banquet.

* * *

Viktor decided not to think about it as they left the flat, instead focusing on calling the builder and decorators he’d contracted to do the changes required before they could move in. They have to meet in more detail, but they’d asked for an update after the visit.

By the time he’d gone over everything, they were back home. His mother was home, and she immediately fussed over Yuri - he might as well be her pack too now, and Yura was fond of her in his own way. He was always so polite, and not out of slight terror like he was with Lilia.

Letting him have some time to himself, Viktor turned his thoughts back to his mate, and the thoughts that had been growing at the back of his mind during their trip.

“I was hoping we could talk,” Viktor said, beckoning his mate through to the living room. “About what you said when you arrived.” he added, trying to keep his nerves in check.

Yakov was right. They had to communicate. ’ _Listen to Yakov,_ ’ everyone said. Why did he never listen to Yakov? He could have saved himself a lot of grief and anxiety if he had just asked Yuuri about this sooner; Yuuri could have done with opening up too, but Viktor trusted his mate, and knew he always had good reasons for things.

Yuuri glanced at him as he hung his coat up, then nodded. “Ok,” he said, following him into the living room and sliding down beside him on the sofa. Viktor rolled in, leaning against his shoulder, and instantly felt relief from the internal blitzkrieg. Honestly, Viktor wondered if it was Yuuri’s scent rather than the painkillers which had eased his cramps (Dr. Lekov would probably tell him it was).

He’d missed this so much, just being able to lie together. He had never felt much of his heats while he’d been on suppressants, but he’d always been cuddly and a little jumpy. Yuuri had been there constantly whenever his hindbrain screamed ‘ _Danger! Stay inside! Safe! Safe! Safe!_ ’ at him, and within a day the muted urges were gone.

“Where do you want to start?” Yuuri asked quietly, his breath warm and comforting over Viktor’s neck, fingers gently scratching the base of his neck, just at his hairline, ever so perfectly.

A very good question - where indeed did Viktor want to start? His mind had gone blank. This was bliss, though oddly not distracting.

“Earlier when Yura asked, you said there were five members of your pack - Phichit and Seung-Gil are obvious, but who’s the fifth? It’s not Minami is it? I don’t think I can cope with two hyperactive teenagers.”

Yuri chuckled, but Viktor could smell the tinge of worry in his scent that came after his question, and the slight tremor in his hand as he reached into his pocket for his phone “I… there’s. No easy way to explain this, so I guess, I’ll start with the photos,” he said, his words rather abstract as he swiped across screen and dived into his photo app.

Viktor blinked. “Photos?”

Yuuri nodded. “When Phichit told me he’d slipped up and told you about it, he told me it was okay to explain his part. He’s even sent me a bunch of new photos,” he said. “Before I show you them, I need you to understand that the reason I never told you outright was because I thought you knew about our packbond, but also because this wasn’t my secret to tell. I needed Phichit’s permission, and he wasn’t ready yet.”

Viktor frowned in confusion, but nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep that in mind,” he assured his mate.

With the reply Yuuri took a deep breath, and after a few swipes his finger and thumb across the phone screen, he held it out to Viktor.

Taking the phone, Viktor’s eyes widened and he quickly bit his tongue to stop any exclamations escape. In the photo, was Phichit, sitting on a sofa Viktor had seen in his photos of Detroit. In his arms, was a beautiful little girl with tan skin and sleek dark hair pulled into two tiny bunches.

“This is the fifth person in my pack Viktor," Yuuri said shakily. “This is Ai-chan… She’s Phichit’s daughter.”

* * *

 

Who saw that coming? Poor Yuuri is always the skater that kets knocked up ~~not that I don't love those stories myself, because I do, I'm a complete ABO whore~~ so I wanted to try something else for a side story that will be in this universe. I have left some clues in previous chapters, but I deliberately made them subtle for extra cliff-hanger effect  >:)

For a layout of the flat, please see my Tumblr! You can find the post [here!](http://ncj700.tumblr.com/post/162746185077/bc-im-sad-and-i-need-visual-references-like-no)

Next chapter should be up after BMYS updates ~~unless I get impatient or get struck by inspiration but thats more or less the schedule now~~. Off to work now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	12. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri lays skeletons bare for Viktor.

Taking the phone, Viktor’s eyes widened and he quickly bit his tongue to stop any exclamations escape. In the photo, was Phichit, sitting on a sofa Viktor had seen in his photos of Detroit. In his arms, was a beautiful little girl with tan skin and sleek dark hair pulled into two tiny bunches.

“This is the fifth person in my pack Viktor," Yuuri said shakily. “This is Ai-chan… She’s Phichit’s daughter.”

Viktor stared at the photo then back to Yuuri, his heart beating so fast he could almost feel it on his tongue. “Ai-chan?” He asked, testing out the name. Viktor didn’t know a lot of Japanese, but he knew that word easily.

Ai. _Love_. It was often used as a name in Yuuri’s native tongue.

“She’s not mine,” Yuuri assured him quickly. “That's just my nickname for her. Thai names are hard to get around and it sounds like her real name and her Thai nickname, that all. Seung-Gil is her sire. He and Phichit have been together since meeting in juniors.”

“She’s adorable, but I think I’m even more confused now than I was before Солнышко,” Viktor said plainly, throwing the endearment in to help assuaged Yuuri’s unease (he honestly looked like he would be sick).

Viktor slumped, letting out the breath he had been holding, then stared at the photo; even in his shock, he couldn’t help smiling at the picture. Phichit, he knew to smile a lot, all sorts of smiles. He was a very cheerful person, but he’d never seen a picture where he looked so happy as he did with the tiny little girl in this one.

Looking back to his mate, the smile dropped a little. “I had no idea Phichit even had a pup,” he said simply. “How has he managed to hide this from social media?”

Yuuri sighed. “Discreet babysitters mostly,” he said. “And a lot of self-restraint. Phichit is as popular in Thailand as you are here; he was terrified that someone would hurt her, or his parents might try to do something so he's been vigilant. Not to mention when he got pregnant… he was still underage. She could have been taken away from him by his parents; omegas still have a few old restrictions there, and he was terrified of that. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you about my pack Viktor, I swear I did, it just-”

Viktor stopped him by placing a finger to Yuuri’s lips. “It wasn’t your secret to tell Yuuri,” he said smiling again. “You wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with if you broke Phichit's trust like that. I’m shocked, and I still want the details, but I understand.”

Yuuri stared at him, then burrowed his face in his shoulder. “I’m sorry Viktor,” he sniffed, holding him close and shoulder shaking from the effort of trying not to cry. “I'm so sorry I didn’t tell you! I’m sorry!”

“Yuuri, you don’t need to apologise - you didn’t lie to me. I never asked and I respect you more for it in a way,” Viktor said softly, pulling back to look his mate in the eye, wipe away the guilt stricken tears now streaming down Yuuri’s face. “It's no wonder you and Phichit have such a strong pack bond if you’ve supported him through something as big as this,” he mused. “Is that why you were so concerned for Yura?”

Yuuri nodded. “It was scary at even when Phichit and I planned it; I didn’t want him to just dive in head first and regret it.”

“Was that after Ai-chan?” Viktor asked; Yuuri shook his head. “Before? Why?” He wondered, hoping he could distract Yuuri from his own distress and get the full tale at the same time. “Phichit told me you already have a PB - why didn’t you tell me about that? If you’d told me about this, I wouldn’t have cared, but… you can see why I was worried, can’t you? I know you’re not that kind of person, but it was very unsettling to find out second hand.” Viktor asked, hoping his tone wasn’t too biting or jaded.

He’d just been proven that his trust in his mate had been correct, but the worry and stress hadn’t been without effect, and he felt he was entitled to being a little angry even if he _could_ understand the secrecy.

“I never intended to hide it from you Viktor,” Yuuri said without hesitation. “We’ve been public about it for years, so I guess I assumed at some point you already knew. I probably would have told you if it had come from normal circumstances, but it didn’t, and I half assumed you knew.”

Yuuri had the good sense to look guilty. He knew how _he_ would have reacted if one of Viktor's rink mates told him they had given him a Pack bond. His hindbrain growled and snarled quietly at the thought of it.

Viktor was his mate. It wasn’t registered, and they hadn’t bonded, but just thought of someone else - alpha, beta, omega, it made no difference - putting their mark on _his_ fiancé made the hairs on his neck rise in protest. It made him feel a bit like a hypocrite and a cliché.

"Viktor, I swear, it was just friendly, yes we lived together in Detroit, but we're just friends; I've never felt anything like that for Phichit," he said. "Please believe me." He begged.

Viktor let out a long-held sigh, whining and flopping his head into his arms. “I do, I'm sorry I just... I needed to hear that. I was so surprised by it and…” he bit his lip.

“And you deserve the truth…” his mate finished. Yuuri took a breath. “… you do deserve that Viktor, and if it had just been the pack bond, you would have, but I stand by what I said already; Ai-chan was Phichit’s secret to keep, not mine. I couldn’t tell you everything without his permission. He’s my best friend and I can’t betray his trust like that.”

 And there, that was exactly the kind of words Viktor needed to hear. Honest and blunt Yuuri never lied. Not deliberately (though he was very good at leaving things out of conversation).

“But you can now?” Viktor asked, tone no longer as irritated as his initial question had been. His mate nodded, and Yuuri took a breath, his hands twitching as he sorted his thoughts.

“Aside from this, he doesn't want to hide her anymore - he's not ashamed, and he shouldn't be either," Yuri said quietly, before taking another breath. "Phichit always had bad heats, I helped him with them - completely innocently I add - when they started, two years after we started training together,” he began.

Victor nodded. “He said as much.”

Yuuri smiled anxiously. “Phichit’s the only omega in his family, and the youngest, so his parents were really worried; they insisted that he go back home for his heats, and it was costing a fortune,” he started. “They were bi-monthly then.”

Viktor choked. It wasn’t unheard of, but most male omegas had tri-monthly heats when they had a stable cycle. It could go off, or irregular ones occur, but the general rule was three months. “What about suppressants?”

"They're expensive in Thailand, and generally still a bit controversial. Japan too. Same with China, Korea - his parents are pretty well off, but they're very traditional, and weren't convinced it was healthy, and he was too young to get them himself," Yuuri explained. “Except for the ones he _had_ to take before competitions, he couldn’t take any. He couldn’t get them without permission in America either because he was too young, and I couldn’t buy them for him - Alphas aren’t allowed to collect them unless they’re mated there either,” he continued.

Viktor had heard fragments of that from Phichit, and nodded on the subject of suppression medication laws for Alphas. There were known cases of the criminal types collecting suppressants for friends in the past and disposing of them to take advantage of heats. After most countries had equalised rights between the genders, a lot of new laws had been put in place to regulate suppressants, amongst others, which restricted alphas a fair bit.

Some people still disapproved though, and Yuuri had told him before that the use of suppressants had only started picking up in Asia in the 90s. It had been when Viktor had his own prescriptions refilled in Japan, and the pharmacist had argued with Yuuri (his translator) about the pills. Many people still didn’t use them in Japan, didn’t completely trust them, and he could only guess that Thailand was much the same.

"Anyway, he could the afford the flight back one month, because it coincided with Celestino’s coaching fee going out of the bank."

“More expensive than a flight?” Viktor guessed - Celestino was a good skater in his time; Yakov' fees were quite steep., and they had shared podiums before his coach retired.

“Besides his other medals, he was a two-time Olympic gold medallist," Yuuri said. "Of course it was. Anyway, Phichit was stuck here for it, and he was terrified. He'd always been at home for them, and everything went belly up."

Viktor could imagine. He’d been a teenager away from home, going through a heat on the other side of the world before. It was far from a pleasant experience, and only this heat just passed had been worse.

"To be honest, I didn't really think about it; I was worried, and I could tell he was going to end up in heat shock or something if he didn’t start to nest or feel safe,” Yuuri said, remembering the day clearly. "I wanted to help, so I googled Pack Bonds. We didn't do it right away, I had to ask Celestino to call his parents, since Phichit was getting... well, it wasn't good. His permission would have been up for conjecture. They were hesitant but they trusted Celestino and he vouched for me, so they agreed if Phichit was comfortable with it."

Yuuri smiled. “That’s what the pack bond was _supposed_ to be for. It was a hassle getting the paperwork in time, but it made life ten times easier for both of us. Before that I had to keep running out of the flat at short notice because his cycle was so irregular, and it's illegal for an unmarked alpha to be present without a bond."

“So, you gave him one before his heat hit?” Viktor surmised.

“It was just a temporary one then,” Yuuri nodded “Phichit agreed, and I stayed at the flat through it with him. I let him use my room, helped him keep his fluids up, all that, scented him with my wrists and neck, but that was it. Afterwards, he was mortified, but at least he wasn't shaking and crying or hiding in his bedroom cupboard anymore, so that was all I cared about,” Yuuri finished

“When did it become permanent?” Viktor asked, running a hand over Yuuri’s arm. He could see by the set of his shoulders that he was still tense. There was more to this, but he was beginning to understand, and while he was still ticked off, he couldn’t be angry at Yuuri for trying to help his friend before they’d ever met.

“The third year we were in Detroit, we ended up at an Asian-American training camp; loads of the new skaters last year were there, for the juniors. Leo, Otabek, JJ, Guang-Hong. Seung-Gil was with me and Phichit in the senior rink. Long story short, one of Celestino's older skaters brought alcohol, and we had a bit of a party. You can guess what Phichit and Seung-Gil were up to.” Yuuri said. “Phichit missed his next heat a few weeks later. Originally, we’d just had the pack bond so that his dads wouldn’t worry. I'd always just scented him and given him a temporary mark but… they didn’t react well.”

“When you say that…” Viktor trailed off, not sure how to erase the guess his mind had supplied him with. It was probably along the same lines as what Yakov had planned to do if he didn’t get his shit together after Vasíly and his grandfather died.

“They wanted to take him out of skating completely,” Yuuri added, tone a bit sharper, clearly displeased with the topic already. “I didn’t want to let that happen to him. He was the first friend I ever had, besides Yuuko and Takeshi. I _had_ to do something.”

Viktor’s heart went out to his mate (and his apparent pack mate); he couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been for Phichit to cope with. Frankly, he was amazed the young man had found the time to go to college, have a baby, maintain a long-distance relationship, and get back into shape for Barcelona. Phichit skated like he’d been born on the ice, not like he’d taken off it to give birth!

The back of Viktor’s hindbrain - having been assured that Phichit had a mate of his own - wasn’t threatened at all anymore. Quite the contrary - he wanted to meet Phichit, his tiny baby girl, and smother them both in his and Yuuri’s combined scent. It was already thinking of Phichit as part of his pack, his and Yuuri's pack, just like Yura.

He could understand now why Yuuri had chosen to keep this quiet. News like this was not something to broadcast. Skating fans could be fanatic sometimes (you just had to look at Yuri’s fan club to know that), and Yuuri had already said Phichit wouldn't dream of exposing his pup to that.

“So, you made it official,” Viktor guessed, remembering the online article he’d found and been moping at.

Yuuri nodded. “Phichit was about two weeks away from 18 when he found out he was pregnant, so his parents could have forced him straight back home, forced him to have an abortion. I had no idea what to do so I called my dad; he was my dam, and I figured he might be able to help me find a way to help, have heard of something,” Yuuri said. “He was the one who suggested it. So, I emailed him the paperwork, and the consent form Phichit’s parents had signed; they had to give me full documentation just in case someone asked questions anyway, we just never submitted it for a full pack registration. My parents registered it in Japan, and the paperwork in Thailand got adjusted as a result. It gave me legal responsibility.”

“And Phichit’s parents?”

Yuuri shrugged. “Phichit still talks to them, but they wanted him to abort Viktor, or quit skating, possibly both, and after we went behind their back to prevent all of that, they were understandably angry. It’s difficult, but I think they’re getting back to good terms now that he’s moved back to Thailand,” he said.

“And… where is Seung-Gil in all of this?” Viktor asked raising an eyebrow - Yuuri had said they had been together several years already, but from the sound of it he hadn’t played much of a role beyond helping with the girl’s conception.

“His coach was very strict, and it was difficult for him to get time away to see Phichit to begin with,” Yuuri explained, another frown on his face. “He wanted to be there, he really did, but his bitch of a coach booked him into every ice show and competition she could to try and stop him. She didn’t care about anything but getting him to Pyeongchang, but he did visit, and blew off a bunch of stuff so that he could be there when Phichit went into labour. His contract with her is finishing this season, so I think he’s going to be training with Celestino in Thailand. They aren’t sure yet. Seen-Gil’s parents have asked Phichit to come stay in Seoul; they were worried at first too, but they’re lovely people, and they just want to see them both more, but it depends on Celestino.”

“Ah, I beg his forgiveness for judging then,” Viktor nodded, before turning back to Yuuri’s phone. “So… she’s part of our pack, and Phichit too?”

“Temporarily. I think Phichit is planning on getting a mark as soon as Seung-Gil moves in with them; his heats are back to normal now, so it will be easier, and he’s legal. That helps,” Yuuri said. “Viktor, I know I should have told you this, its huge, and you had a right to know but-”

“Yuuri, it’s alright,” Viktor said, sitting up and taking his mate’s face in his hands. “Now that you’ve explained it, I’m not mad. It’ll take a while to adjust to, but I understand why you didn’t tell me. As you said, it wasn’t your story to tell, and if Phichit wasn’t ready to tell people, you had no other choice,” he said, making sure they had eye contact. “I’m still a little upset, but I understand, and as long as there’s no more giant secrets you haven’t told me, I forgive you.”

"There's nothing, I swear," Yuuri promised with absolute sincerity in his words. "I'm sorry I hid all this from you, that I didn't ask Phichit sooner; I made you worry for no reason and I could have avoided it but I was probably scared too," Yuuri confessed.

Viktor sighed but snuggled down close against his mate again, slumped once more so he could lean his head against Yuuri's shoulder, inhale his scent. He'd missed it so much. He just wished they could have mated. Bonded properly; he was ready for it now.

"When you think about it, we haven't known each other so long that there aren't things we don't know about each other Yuuri," he said, wanting to reassure the alpha. "Even if it feels like much longer," he smiled, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "There are still things you probably don't know about me too, not because I'm trying to hide them but just because they haven't come up yet."

Yuri wrapped his arms a little closer around Viktor's waist and shoulders, gently inhaling his scent as Viktor spoke, finally relaxing at the reassurance and truth to Viktor's words.

"I forget it's not even a year and a half since we met," he mumbled. "You're right. It feels like longer," he added. "Do you want to talk to Phichit yourself?" He asked, drawing Viktor out of their growing haze again. "I asked and he doesn't mind if you want to ask him anything in private on FaceTime," Yuuri explained.

After a lengthy moment of consideration, Viktor shook his head. " I don't need to - I trust your word Yuuri. Maybe when we see him at four continents, I might then, but for now I'm satisfied with what you've told me," he said.

And that he was. It hadn't been certain until Viktor gave the feeling a verbal acknowledgement, but he was happy with Yuuri’s explanation. He was still a little mad, but who could blame him? He would calm his anger soon, and the reasoning for the secrecy was something sound. Mostly though, it was Yuuri's clear regret over said secrecy that assured Viktor that it had caused no fracture or crack in their relationship.

"What is Phichit going to do?" He asked curiously as the scent of his mate began to lull him into a more relaxed doze once more. "You said he didn't want to hide Ai-chan any more. Is he going to make a public statement? If he needs a publicist I know a couple," he offered.

"I don't think he really needs one," Yuuri chuckled. "I think he has something with a bit more impact in mind," he chuckled.

Viktor raised an eyebrow then shrugged and cuddled up close against his alpha once more. Pacified he might be, but he was owed months of snuggles as it was, and if Yuuri thought he would leave the sofa without being drenched in Viktor's scent again, he was very, very wrong.

* * *

**Instagram**

**Phichit Chulanont @ phichit+chu** uploaded 1 new video, 6 new pictures, and 1 new text post

* * *

| _Picture inset of an ultrasound scan, with the hazy image of a pup with outstretched arms and legs_ |

20th April 2012

 **phichit+chu** That’s our pup at 18 weeks **@Seung-gillee**! Our bean is a little girl!  
_#pregnancy #ourpup #ultrasound #she’ssotiny! #gottopickaname_

 **Likes** 6,007 | **Comments** 1,835

 

> **Seung-gillee@phichit+chu**  I still can’t believe how small she was then. I showed my dam and he cried. There both out shopping for clothes now (since I ‘can’t be trusted’ apparently.)
> 
> **phichit+chu@Seung-gillee** A tiny blob of happiness and hormonal madness combined. I sympathise with his tears. _#icriedtoo #somuch_ Your ma and pa are right though babe. _#mymate #fashiondisaster_ I wish you had seen it! Yuuri took a video for you!
> 
> **Seung-gillee@phichit+chu**  I wish I could have made it. I promise I’ll be there for the next one x.
> 
> **phichit+chu@Seung-gillee** XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX _#imissyousomuch_
> 
> **Seung-gillee@phichit+chu**   _#metoo_.

* * *

| _Picture of Phichit Chulanont and Seung-Gil Lee cuddled on a sofa with a large baby bump, and the toes of outstretched feet just visible on someone’s lap_ (tagged @PABartezzz) |

02nd September 2012

 **Phichit+chu** So, three weeks to go, and I can’t see my feet anymore; forgive me for this, but I’m so done with being pregnant!  
It was fun when she first kicked, but I’d rather have my pup now, thanks. _  
#thatsoundsawful #pregnancydoesn’tagreewithme #howmuchlonger? #pregnancy #mypup #SpotTheKatsudon #pack #seung-gillee #heisasaint #bestmateaward_

 **Likes** 4,764 | **Comments** 1,009

 

> **+guanghongji+** Your belly is huge! Sure it’s not twins? | winking emoji |
> 
> **phichit+chu @ +guanghongji+** God, I hope not, I’ve only got one pram.
> 
>  
> 
> **LDL+Iglesia** I still can’t believe it considering last year we were all training together! But I’m proud of you! Keep going - not much longer now!
> 
> **phichit+chu @ LDL+Iglesia** It feels like longer than it actually is. The backache is the kicker.
> 
>  
> 
> **KYFan567** WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTT????????
> 
>  
> 
> **Yuri-Angel767** OMGGGGGG is this for real????

* * *

| _Picture inset of Phichit Chulanont in a hospital bed, dozing on pillows with Seung-Gil Lee, his arms holding a tiny bundle in a purple with a red face peeking out_ |

16th September 2012

 **phichit+chu** Dead tired after hard work. Many thanks to **@PABartezzz** for the sneaky photo with **@seung-gillee**. Our daughter arrived a week earlier than expected!   
_#thankgod #notdoingthatagaininahurry #knackered #14 hours #labour #pregancy #bestmateaward #pack_  

 **Likes** 2,677 | **Comments** 582

 

> **PABartezzz** You deserved it after all that.
> 
> **seung-gillee** You were amazing.
> 
> **phichit+chu @seung-gillee @PABartezzz** It was either be amazing or get a caesarean, and that scares me shitless.
> 
>  
> 
> **CAO-bin35** She’s beautiful, and props to you for coming back to skating so soon, and for not giving up on it. :)
> 
> **Phichit+chu @ CAO-bin35** NGL, it was a toss-up for a while, but I wanted both my _#IcePrincess_ and to keep skating, so both I got.
> 
>  
> 
> **-Emil+in+Prague-** OMG, Phichit, you have been holding out on us! When do we get to meet her????? She’s adorable! _#SeungChu #IcePrincess_
> 
> **Phichit+chu @ -Emil+in+Prague-** I have to bring her with me for 4CC and Worlds this year.
> 
>  
> 
> **SkatingAlpha5678** That is such a cute pack!
> 
>  
> 
> **+HamsterΩQueen+** Phichit! How long have you been hiding this? These are old photos but they’re already posted??? Has someone hacked your account?!
> 
> **Phichit+chu @ +HamsterΩQueen+** No, but thanks for the concern! I posted them privately on the dates noted, but I’ve decided to make them public.
> 
>  
> 
> **IceGurl247365** Who is **@PABartezzz?**
> 
> **Yuri-Angel767 @ IceGurl247365** I think it might be _#KatsukiYuuri_?

* * *

| _Picture inset of Phichit Chulanont beside Seung-Gil Lee; Seung-Gil is holding a baby girl. They are outside a Buddhist Temple with Thai signage_ |

7th October 2012

 **phichit+chu** Celestion-Cialdini helped us find **@WatPaknamMichigan** for her blessing ceremony! She slept through the whole thing, but woke up for **@PABartezzz** and **@seung-gillee** afterwards!  
_#packselfie #mypack #ourpup #thaiblessingceremony #inAmerica #Detroit #WatPaknamMichigan_

 **Likes** 3,789 | **Comments** 603

 

> **KYFan567** No! I can’t believe this! This is horrible! How could this have happened? _#worstnewsever_ I wanted Phichit and Yuuri to get together! Why was this kept a secret? _#phichuuri #sinkingship_
> 
>  
> 
> **-KatsukiBae- @ KYFan567** Err, how about the fact that as a popular skater, and a celebrity in his home country, he probably didn’t want his pup exposed to the media or the danger of notoriety? It’s perfectly sane and reasonable! Also, who asked you to be in charge of who he wants to mate with? You aren’t his pack leader, so GTF.
> 
>  
> 
> **+BetaHamsterPrincess31+** Phichit, please ignore this idiot! Most of your fans know and respect the fact that you and Yuuri have a traditional PB - so many people just use them instead of MBs nowadays, and frankly I think its lovely to see two people share one just because they’re good friends and want to support each other! _#thatsarealPB #bringbacktheplatonicPB #packgoals #friendship goals #bestpackleaderaward_
> 
> **phichit+chu @ +BetaHamsterPrincess31+** Thank you! Yuuri is definitely one of the best friends I’ll ever have! I’d never have made it this far without him, but he’s completely gone for **@v-nikiforov** , and **@seung-gillee** and I have been together for a long time now! _#wejusthaventbondedyet #timezones suck #longdistancerelationship #truelove_

* * *

| _Video uploaded: Seung-Gil Lee is holding his hands out as a little girl wanders across a kitchen floor towards him. Phichit Chulanont follows her protectively, occasionally reaching out his hands, but mostly refraining as she stumbles forward laughing excitedly_ |

| “Oh… ไฉไล, you amazing, clever girl -  _he holds out his hands -_ come on, 아빠에게 와라!” |

16th September 2013

 **phichit+chu** The tears won’t stop! My baby girl walked right to her Daddy for the very first time today, during our visit to Seoul - **@seung-gillee** was so excited to have her here for her first birthday ceremony,and it was great to meet his pack again! Ai-Chan loved her hanbok and gulle from her grandparents, and so do I! She looks adorable! She picked out the calligraphy brushes! Thanks again to **@PABartezzz** for recording this for future insta-spam.  
_#shehadsomuchfun #bestmateaward #bestpackaward #돌잔치 _#Doljanchi_ _

**Likes** 976 | **Comments** 281

 

> **seung-gillee** Close enough - technically its a 까치 두루마기
> 
> **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** ?????? say what now?
> 
> **seung-gillee @ phichit+chu** Its a Kkachi durumagi
> 
> **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** yes, but babe, what does it mean??? _#notthatfluent #korean #stilllearning_ My Korean isn’t as good as your Thai!
> 
> **seung-gillee @ phichit+chu** magpie overcoat, in English.
> 
> **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** | Heart Eyes Emoji | If I could have my way, she would never take it off!
> 
>  
> 
> **T-H-Brigade-001** OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!! AM I SEEING THIS RIGHT?! THIS TINY PRECIOUS IS YOUR AND SEUNG-GIL’S PUP???????? _#PhichitChulanot #TheThaiHamsterBrigade #PhichitsMinions #pup #Seung-Gil Lee #cute #packgoals #tell everyone!_
> 
> **phichit+chu @ T-H-Brigade-001** You are correct indeed, chief hamster minion! _#TheThaiHamsterBrigade #PhichitsMinions_
> 
>  
> 
> **theHamsterQUEEN** The way she runs to her daddy is so cute! She has such a wonderful smile and you can just tell she so happy and loved! #parentinggoals #packgoals #lifegoals #romancegoals
> 
>  
> 
> **Seung-gilFan78** Is anyone else just here for **@phichit+chu** and **@seung-gillee** just being their bi-racial adorableness and making it work? Ai-chan does look cute, but I’m still reeling too much to properly sqee. _#packgoals #cutecouple #cutepup_
> 
>  
> 
> **+guanghongji+** She’s so big now, I can’t believe it! She’s gorgeous as always Phichit! _#IcePrincess_ Has she skated yet?
> 
> **Phichit+chu @ +guanghongji+** Nope, not yet! Can’t do that without **@seung-gillee** , but maybe once he moves to Bangkok.
> 
> **seung-gillee @ phichit+chu** Unless my dad can convince you to move to Seoul. They can’t wait to see her at 4CC.
> 
> **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** I could yet be convinced, if my sister is to be believed.

* * *

| _Picture inset of a young baby girl sitting straight up, hugging Katsuki Yuuri’s leg; he looks somewhat alarmed but also happy_ |

 **phichit+chu** Uncle Yuuri is definitely popular today - she’ll miss you when you go **@PABartezzz**!  
_#shesgrowingsofast #scary #butawesome #Yuuri’slastday #Detroit #bff #pack_

 **Likes** 1,048 | **Comments** 473

 **+PhichitMinionNo1+** WAIT! Is this why you were out of 2011/2012 Season?! YOU HAD A PUP IN ’11, RECOVERED FROM A CAESAREAN, AND MANAGED TO SKATE AGAIN IN TIME FOR 12/13?????????? Phichit!!!!!!!! That’s amazing! _#packgoals #lifegoals #IcePrincess_

 **phichit+chu @ +PhichitMinionNo1+** Yep! Though luckily, I didn't need a caesarean! Thank god, or it would have taken a lot longer! Ciao-Ciao would have bust a bigger gut than he already did when I went into labour _#itwaslikeabaddrama #j-drama #k-drama #BBCDrama_

 

 **Huskie2345** OMG My two favourite skaters had a pup. This is amazing

 

 **Seung-Chan-hamster** I love you, I love Seung-Gil, I love Yuuri and Viktor, and I LOVE your gorgeous girl. and that the entire Russian skating team is clamouring to adopt you both. _#cutepup #SeungChu #IcePrincess #packgoals #freindshipgoals_

 

 **Phichuuri65** No! This is so disappointing! I was so sure you and Yuuri were going to tie down your PB for good.

 **theHamsterQUEEN @ Phichuuri65** F-Off, keep your shippers crap to the forums - do you even realise you’re projecting real human beings? Keep your asinine comments to yourself! She’s a beautiful little girl! Best luck in the world for you and Seung-Gil Phichit!

 **Huskie2345 @ Phichuuri65** UM, excuse you, she’s a little pup, and I’m sure Phichit has his reasons for not telling the goddamn universe about his personal life, or his daughter? (HINT: its people like you) She’s a goddamn sweetheart Phichit! Props to you and Seung-Gil! I can tell by that tiny smile that you two are fantastic parents! She looks so happy! _#thatpuphitthegenepoollottery #socute #IcePrincess #she’sgonnabealooker_

* * *

| _Picture inset of Phichit Chulanont at Imperial Palace Ice Rink, Bangkok, with a female toddler in his arms with mittens and earmuffs, a yellow duffel coat, and a small polka-dotted face mask on her chin_ |

 **@phichit+chu** Surprise my minions! As you have all probably guessed by now, that’s my baby girl in the last few photos I’ve made public ,so please be nice to her! It’s her Insta Debut! Meet little ไอซ์! She has **@seung-gillee** 's ‘I don’t give a damn’ smile this morning! **@Celestion-Cialdini** has babysitting duty during today's free practice _#PhichitsMinions #thai+HAMSTER+brigade #practice #honorary grandpa_

 **Likes** 2,677 | **Comments** 582

 **seung-gillee** Her hair is nice today.

 **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** That’s all you have to say? I spent an hour picking out her blouse and skirt this morning for her official Insta-debut! She’s nothing short of adorable! _#kingofunderstatement_

 **seung-gillee @ phichit+chu** but it is? She suits it that way. She looks like you _#beautiful #mypack #betheresoon_

 **phichit+chu @ seung-gillee** I'd say flattery will get you nowhere, but that was gold. Consider me swayed by your words. _#smoothtalker_ _#bestmateaward_

 

 **sara-crispino** OMG!!!! She’s so precious Phichit! What’s her name? That’s a nickname right? What does it mean? What does her full name mean? _#Tellmeeverything #packgoals_

 **phichit+chu @ sara-crispino** Her full name is ไฉไล จุลานนท์, or Chailai Chulanont! (This must be a first for me, but PLEASE DON’T USE HER NAME AS A HASHTAG). Her nickname ไอซ์ means ‘ _Ice_ ’, but it sounds a bit like ‘ _Ai_ ’, so Yuuri-calls her Ai-chan. She likes both.

Chailai means ‘ _beautiful_ ’ or ‘ _pretty_ ’ cause she the most beautiful thing in my life! And ' _Ai_ ' means ‘love’ in Japanese, which is just as cute, because she's very loved! It’s also easier for anyone who doesn’t speak Thai!

 

 **babe-mila** Phichit! She’s so beautiful! Please tell me you’re visiting Russia soon so we can meet her! Also, I think you’re going to smash that ‘break twitter’ goal, _#IcePrincess_

 **phichit+chu @ babe-Mila**  You'll have to wait and see, but if you're at Worlds this year you can meet her! My babysitter is graduating and she's better with crowds now, so I'm taking her with me.

 

 **v-nikiforov** Phichit! Yuuri showed me the pictures yesterday! She’s beautiful! When are you coming to visit us in Russia? LET ME SEE HER! _#socruel #IcePrincess #FaceTimeisn’tenough! #cutepup_

 **phichit+chu @ v-nikiforov** Soon! Probably 4CC or Worlds! I’m stealing that hashtag! _#IcePrincess_

 

 **PABartezzz** Has she finished teething yet? I can't believe how big she is since last time I saw her in person _#IcePrincess_

 **phichit+chu @ PABartezzz** Yuuri! come visit us! She misses you!  _#pack #bff_

 

 **yuri-plisetsky** WHEN IN THE HELL DID YOU HAVE A PUP? WTF

 **phichit+chu @ yuri-plisetsky**  She was born when I was 18 and was taking a year out during the 11/12 season. It’s her 3rd birthday soon!

 **yuri-plisetsky @ phichit+chu**  Holy shit fuck, congrats? _#IcePrincess #cutepup_

 

 **Jjleroy!15** She’s cute.

 **phichit+chu @ Jjleroy!15** Thanks JJ!

 **yuri-plisetsky @ Jjleroy!15** SHE’S FUCKING ADORABLE YOU BLIND MAN.

 

 **LDL+Iglesia** I can’t believe how big she is now! Can’t wait to see her again! Kisses for her! xxx

 **phichit+chu @ LDL+Iglesia** Your kisses have been passed on and are appreciated Uncle Leo!

 

 **PoPovich+26** She is adorable; I’m definitely with Viktor and Mila! _#IcePrincess_ We want to meet her!

 **phichit+chu @ PoPovich+26** You’ll see her soon, I promise!

 

 **Sk8rsRlife** You nicknamed her ice?! That poor kid. _#weirdnames #celebritynames #thainames_

 **Hamster-IceGal07 @ Sk8rsRlife** GTF, you troll! Phichit can call his pup whatever he wants! She’s gorgeous, and you’re just jealous! Phichit, ignore this ass, he’s just pissed because he’s not as amazing or talented as you are!

 **Evenstar-675 @ Sk8rsRlife** As far as Thai nicknames go, Ice is pretty tame. I know someone nicknamed ‘ _Airbus_ ’, I kid you not.

 **Phichit+chu @ Sk8rsRlife @Hamster-IceGal07 @Evenstar-675** As I explained above, it’s not her REAL name, but trust me, it was accurate for a nickname. Plus, we are skaters! It felt appropriate!

 

 **christophe-gc** Phichit, you never fail to surprise me. She’s beautiful, just like her fathers, with a wonderful name to boot. Tell us all her birthday so we can spoil her rotten. _#IcePrincess_

 **phichit+chu @ christophe-gc** Thanks Chris! I’ll DM you all!

 **christophe-gc @ phichit+chu** You’ll have tell me parenting tips once I retire - Mathieu just saw this and now he’s giving me the ‘I want a baby too’ look again.

 **phichit+chu @ christophe-gc**  | laughing emoji| Tell him to keep it together until you’re out of competition! It’s hard to skate when you’re pregnant!

 **christophe-gc @ phichit+chu** You didn't.

 **PABartezzz @ christophe-gc** Of course he did. He wanted a selfie of his baby belly over his skates even if he couldn’t post it. Celestino-sensei almost had a heart attack the first time we caught him sneaking onto the rink.

 **phichit+chu @christophe-gc @PABartezzz**  As Yuuri says, her nickname is very appropriate. She just wouldn’t let up on my poor ribs unless I was skating Yuuri!

 

 **phichuuri4Eva** Wait, **@seung-gillee** is the sire? Didn’t you have a PB with Yuuri, Phichit? I thought for sure you were together! She’s gorgeous tho _#IcePrincess_

 **phichit+chu @ phichuuri4Eva**  I do, partially because of Ai-chan, actually. It's little a complicated, but Seung-Gil is definitely her sire. Everything between Yuuri and I is completely platonic but he’s definitely very important to us both! I wouldn’t be back on the ice today without his help, he’s one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met, and I’m glad I get to tag him _#pack #bff_

* * *

[ Солнышко ] - Sunshine, term of endearment. 

[ 아빠에게 와라! ] - _Come to dad!_

* * *

 

Slightly shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to get this explanation out, and the next events didn't really mix well with the flow of the first scene. Hope it answers the questions from the previous chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Haha. I'm jumping on the Omegaverse trash bandwagon. Omegaverse is my muse. ~~and filth~~ this self-indungece is unbeta-ed, and I can't speak Russian, but I didn't use google, so hopefully its not _too awful_.
> 
> I wanted to use linking footnotes for it, but that level of HTML coding is beyond my comprehension.
> 
> Twitter: @Ncj700.  
> Tumblr: http://ncj700.tumblr.com/


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